Cyprus-Forum.com

[yialousa1971]

Thank you both !! I'm rather excited at the prospect of .....GR sending me his ...warmest wishes

Last year he kindly determined my lifespan coming to an end in February 2016. Alive and kicking or rather alive and plodding along!!

There is a story to come soon, May the 9th is Victory day for Belarus, I do believe in numbers, dates, and other such coincidences , will elaborate shortly.

Happy birthday from me and my pet GR.

[miltiades]

I'm often asked by mostly family members if I could would I change anything from my early life in Stroumbi The Great . The answer is an emphatic NO, excluding the tragic events of September 10th 1953. Apart from that If I could go back I would change absolutely nothing.

There were no telephones, no TV , not even a radio, refrigerators had yet to arrive in the village, electricity was unknown to us children, as for cinema well NO. Karagiozis would arrive once or twice a year, such an exhilaratingly event for the entire village.

We played in the church yard mostly pirilli, marbles, not real ones mind you but made from dried up goats droppings. We would make toys by mixing mud and letting it dry.

Ice cream was totally unknown, sweets consisted of a slice of bread dipped in water and covered in sugar. Children were happy, not demanding from their parents trainers, mobiles or money.

I remember seeing the first female in ....trousers !! A foreign lady passing by the village. As for cars, well to see one was a real treat. Yet we were happy, simple everyday lives waiting for Christmas to come so that we could get the Pigs bladder, blow it up and kick it around. Most children would help their parents in the fields, looking after goats mostly.

Weddings were by far the most exciting events in the village, starting on a Friday right through to Monday, such wonderful days full of happy memories.

I wonder how many of you ever sucked on a goat's... tits when out in the fields and feeling thirsty!!

Yes folks, we were happy, simple lives a few wants just the basics were sufficient The earthquake of 1953 was and always will be a milestone of our lives and that is the only event that marred my early life and the only event I so much regret.

Thank you all for your good wishes and have a great day on Paradise Island.

[Robin Hood]

Best wishes for your 70th ....... may you have many more. When you reach my age you will realise even more than you do now just how much you don't know about this world ............ because you will have the time to find out.

Happy Birthday.

[miltiades]

Best wishes for your 70th ....... may you have many more. When you reach my age you will realise even more than you do now just how much you don't know about this world ............ because you will have the time to find out.

Happy Birthday.

Older than I ?? I'll be damned !!!

[CBBB]

Happy 70 Milti!

[Sotos]

Happy Birthday and happy victory day

[miltiades]

Thank you M, thank you Sotos, my victory or my .....demise will be known on ...Sunday

[Jerry]

Happy birthday Milti and may you have many more.

My late father shared many of your sentiments, he had a good life but he actually said a few years before his passing that given the choice he would rather have lived the simple life he had in Cyprus than the one he had in the UK.

[miltiades]

Hi Jerry, thanks for your wishes mate.

I think that most Cypriots of my generation would share your late fathers sentiments, indeed mine too. I often reminisce more so when in the village or in Enaerios area, now a car park, but way back in 1953 it was my home for 2 years or so, that is where we were brought following the earthquake.

I'm rather lucky that whilst maintaining such potent memories I also constantly develop new ones. Life goes on, nothing stays still and progress continues.

Wasn't planning to do anything but family insisted so I'm being taken out to a Spanish restaurant for a celebratory dinner!! No Greek or Cypriot Restaurants in this part of London.