Greek Festival

Hello There My Lovelies,

So yesterday I went to the Greek Festival. Since the weather was nice, I decided to wear a sundress and try to get a little tan. My friend invited me out and we had some Greek food and listened to some Greek music. I went last year as well. This time I had fried calamari. It was so delicious.

The tables were crowded, and it was hard to find a place to sit, so I scoped out a table. While I was waiting for my coffee and Greek dessert, an older gentleman came over to our table and asked if he could join us.

He was a very nice man, and is in his eighties. The first thing he said was: "Would you believe that I am a WW II veteran ?" He was talking about his experiences in the Navy and talked about the many countries he visited. I was intrigued. He has also been here in the Bay Area for many years, while most of the population hasn't because:

1.) Many people here are immigrants, many here less than 30 years
2.) Many people here are younger
3.) Many people grew up somewhere else and ended up moving to the Bay Area.
4.) Many older folks that grew up here ended up retiring elsewhere because of the cost of living.

So it was nice to talk to someone who knew what life was like before the high tech boom.

He also talked about his wife, who passed away about ten years ago. He talked about her like she was still alive. He still wears his wedding ring. It was so bittersweet to listen to him talk about her. He met her while traveling in Austria. (He has good taste, lol) She was Austrian-Slovakian and he could speak fluent German. He said that he had a very happy marriage, and that they loved each other very much. After she passed away, people tried to set him up and introduce him to other ladies, but he still has zero interest. When I talked to him, he seemed like a happy man, and I didn't feel like he was still mourning her, rather he just could never imagine someone else taking her place. And I thought that was so sweet.

He talked about love and marriage a lot and I enjoyed it. He said that the key to a happy marriage is the desire to make your partner happy. When both people want to do nothing more than make the other person happy, that is a successful marriage. He said that over time, their love grew stronger.

I've been told by others that after two years of being with someone, the honeymoon has ended, and then the rest of the time with that person is hard work. I've heard over and over that relationships are hard work. I don't think I agree with that statement, and this man backed me up. He said that he never felt like being with his wife was work, and that as they got older their love grew stronger.

My grandparents on both sides have had the same types of relationships. This man said that younger generations are now looking to their grandparents for guidance in the love department. I can say that is true for myself. In fact I credit a lot of who I've become in the past couple of years to them.

You never really know who you will end up meeting. I really enjoyed the conversation my friend and I had with this man. He really touched my heart without even realizing it.