The winter dragged by, and I couldn't wait for summer to arrive. And then, suddenly, a year had gone by and I was to go home for a month and decide whether I wanted to come back or not. My house did not feel welcoming, and I went from room to room but the feeling of loneliness engulfed me like a cloak, and I visited all my friends, even the ones that I did not really have anything in common with, just to not be in that empty house. I went swimming every morning, as I lived only about two hundred metres from the most beautiful beach that stretched for miles to either side. But when for two nights in a row I heard the front door open, and then footsteps that went into Trienkie's bedroom, and me shouting a glad hello, just to realise that it was my imagination, I decided to pack my clothes and go for an extended visit to Irma, my eldest. This empty nest was just not my cup of tea!
So I started painting again, and went to the art and craft markets where I did quite well, in fact, I made quite a good living copying some old masters for some of the lodges at one of the golf estates. I knew however that I could not stay forever with my kids, so I had to decide whether to go back to Greece, or do something else untill Trienkie came back.
Then one day the agent from Greece phoned, and asked whether I didn't want to go to America instead of back to Greece. After a lot of thought I decided on America, as I am a bitty restless, and although I loved the two Greek kids, I felt that to go back would be a bit of an anticlimax! So shortly after that I was on a plane back to Greece, but this time to a family that lived for three months of the year in Athens, and the rest in Miami. Waau, Miami!, everyone sighed, but my old neigbour was again like a fly in the ointment, grumbling and rumbling about my being so wanton, seriously, she thought me off my rocker, but I think she was a bitty jealous, as she had to stay with her always moaning and chainsmoking hubby.  When I got a few photo's of Trienkie, and saw her for the first time as a young lady and not my baby, I knew that she would never really come 'home' again!, and I was quite happy and very excited to be going to live in Miami!
Back in Greece I was tempted to go and see the children, bur felt too guilty to face Dorah, although I had written and told her I was not coming back, I felt like a traitor to be in Greece with another family. The photo's are of Trienkie in Holland, and a few Modigliani copies I painted for the market. Greece was welcoming me with open arms, and the day I left for Miami, Liz cried a lot, as we had such a lot of fun together. Katrien was back in South Africa. I had one child to look after, and he was a very shy and quiet little thing, but I missed my little Nikos with his tantrums!