Day 182

Giorgos is apparently the most common male name in Crete, with 40 percent of men having that name. This is according to the jeweller whose shop we ended up in yesterday evening, who is called, wait for it, Giorgos. A handsome man with silver hair, he’d been to the shop next door as I was withdrawing cash from the ATM in between the two shops and said he hoped I’d be spending the money in his shop, which, by the way, had a sign outside proclaiming “No Cheap Husbands.’

We saw some silver rings with beautiful Cretan Blue stones, so we went in, and he said he had another 400 rings in that style. And we looked, and although I’d only intended to buy a ring for M, there was one ring, a very simple ring, my eyes were drawn to, and I picked it up, and it fitted perfectly onto the little finger on my right hand (not onto the misshapen fragile little finger on my left hand which has been dislocated on every knuckle in the past, one put back my me on my own, and the other on the cricket pitch by a man I had a love/hate relationship with and who lives in the US now), so I decided we would have matching rings (in colour and materials anyway). M’s is a lovely design of flowers which so suits her long elegant fingers.

We spoke for a long time with this Giorgos, about his history, about this his first season away from the hotel he’d had a shop in for 23 years, about his battles with the mayor about making the street he’s on (which stretcjes along the coast) more attratctive for everyone, about how all he wants to do is to keep his wife happy, and more. And he was the first here to notice that my Greek comes out in a German accent because of my history, the history that made me a linguist and man of the Humanities rather than a scientist. All too long to recount, so perhaps I’ll include it in my short story about this place. If I remember any of it when the time comes.

And I know there’s a cost of living crisis, and I know that we’ve spent what many people would consider a fortune on this package holiday, and I know our children are struggling, too; and that 50 Euros for two rings (after a 40% discount) is a lot of money, but… What I said to someone this morning is that even in the 32nd year of our marriage, a new yes is a new yes forever.

AGGIE’S ART OF HAPPINESS – CHAPTER 135