This past weekend my Greek Orthodox Church had its annual Greek Festival. ALL homemade food, live music, a bunch of loud Greeks, all having fun and eating like there’s no tomorrow. Ha!

Us ladies do what is called YiaYia’s Attic…YiaYia is Greek for Grandma. It’s a high-end rummage sale. In short, do not declutter your home and dump it on us. Bring us nice, working, used items you don’t need or want anymore that people can get at a bargain. We get Lenox china pieces, Waterford pieces, some Lladro statues, etc. We also get some very interesting items. You wonder how anyone on this Earth would want some of that stuff. Ha! Then there is a bunch of glasses…wine, martini, etc. A lot of them are one and not a pair. Or odd numbers…5 glasses, single coffee cups and saucers, and a whole plethora of mugs. Let’s not forget vases galore. And…Christmas stuff including a Christmas tree or two. Then of course, kids toys etc. You get the picture.

We sold a lot of stuff over the weekend and ran out of food before closing time. That’s actually a good sign. People came to celebrate with us! They liked what they saw and ate…and bought from us ladies. Yay!

I like celebrations, especially when we celebrate special occasions. It’s also just great to celebrate who we are. The Greeks have yearly festivals. The Poles do as well. In fact, most ethnic groups do celebrate themselves and their heritage. Why on Earth NOT?

Life is tough. And it doesn’t get easier. We as a society have years of history behind us. We’ve accomplished a lot but we’ve also grieved a lot, lost a lot, rebuilt a lot, learned from our past a lot, and we’re still moving forward. We live life. It’s not always a bed of roses. That’s why it’s important to take time out to have a big fat party. We tend to lose track of what we’ve been through and focus on the difficult tasks that still need to be done. It’s very easy to forget to appreciate what we’ve actually accomplished in this life. That’s why it’s important to take a break and be loud and dance and eat and…buy stuff you don’t need, etc. Ha!

The great thing about the Greek Festivals is that each Church in the Diocese has one. So they’re spread throughout the summer and fall seasons. Done eating at one? Then move on to the next one next weekend. Make the rounds. Make time in your life to have fun. We do have to get our minds off our problems for a bit to re-energize and center ourselves. Even though problems don’t go away just because we partied all weekend, they just don’t look so bad when we get back to them. We’ve re-fueled.

Look around where you live. Find some ethnic parties. Go and enjoy! They’re better than just clubbing, bar-hopping, yadda-yadda. You’re celebrating other people’s lives and their heritage.

Oh…and that stuff you bought that you don’t need because you were having such a good time at the party? Bring it back next year and we’ll sell it again at YiaYia’s Attic. Don’t think people don’t do that! Hahahahaha!

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