Family Ties, One Hundred Years Strong

Jonathan and Lucia spent their final day on Spetses swimming in quiet coves, traveling the island on motorbike, and visiting family—which include Jonathan’s second cousins and their children (who are Lucia’s third cousins). With Dyan and Zoe, the four traveled to the family's compound in a traditional Spetses horse-drawn carriage--just like the kind Jonathan's great uncle Panayiotis drove for many years, which Jonathan remembered from the 1970s when he first came to his maternal grandmother's island.

Everyone marvels at the fact that 102 years after his grandmother’s departure from her island home, the family ties that stretch between two continents remain strong—and it is a gift of family connections that is being imparted to the next generation.

Such heritage is a bond that ties, one that requires some work and perseverance, but is so well worth all the effort.