My ancient history

(I wrote that story about 20 years ago. Soon I am turning 40 and I thought it's a good time to return to my-ancient-history, so I translated it from the original Greek to share it with you, my only-English-speaking dear future historian and contemporary reader.) 

How to engineer a miracle

Let me tell you the story of how a mouse can make you homeless.

Back in 2015 I was living in Thanet with my 14-month-old baby and my 6-year-old daughter. I was also hosting my mother and my sister with her son. So, my kids and I were sleeping in the living room on a mattress on the floor. One night, while I was breastfeeding, I heard a squeaky noise and I saw it staring at me. I jumped up, with the baby still hanging from my breasts, and started googling ‘how to get rid of a mouse.’ Apparently, the options are quite limited and ineffective, with a crawling baby who puts everything in his mouth.

Thoughts on immigration

 Some of you know that I moved to the UK with my daughter from Greece back in 2014 and my son was born here in Kent the same year. I think the journey of an immigrant really starts in a way after arriving to a new country. I love the UK. I love the rich culture and history. I love the nature and the people. Yet sometimes I feel like an outsider and it's hard to know if I'm being discriminated because I'm an immigrant or because I'm autistic. I am wearing a sunflower lanyard because I stutter when I talk with strangers and at the supermarket tills, I felt people were looking at me wondering if I can even speak English.

Generational Gap

 I come from a mixed generations family. My brother is 16 years older; my sister is 14 years older, other sister 8 years older. I am from a second marriage of my mother. My father was 20 when I was born and my mother 40. My children’s father is 7 years younger than me and my partner 17 years older than me. I was 27 and 33 when I had my children. Living in such a mixed environment I never realised the generational gap issue before. For me it was mostly about an unspecified lack of communication. To be honest that is exactly why I had the need to become a writer. I felt no one was listening. But now I think that for my daughter it is a real thing.

The Death of My God

Dear Future Historian,

I was about six or seven, I think. It was Christmas. I was backstage, in the amphitheatre of the church I was ‘going to’ (or was dragged to) back then. I was wearing a costume, but I’m not sure if I was an angel or a sheep. I guess I was a sheep because I remember that it was making me very itchy.

Inner Dialogue

Dear Future Historian,

Today I was informed indirectly, by her psychologist, that I don't exist cause she's not crazy enough! I believe the way it was phrased was: It’s time you admit the fact that even you know that she does not exist… because you aren’t schizophrenic; you're just autistic with big imagination. 

How my Flare Audio Hero saved me from the Dragon of the washing machine!!

Before my late diagnosis in the autism spectrum, I had no idea about my sensory issues. And no amount of observational skills could help me realise my sensory sensitivity with only myself as a reference.