Born A Winner!

Yianni and Despina virtual strangers now found themselves functioning as a team. Yianni still seemed so perplexing to Despina. He was unkempt, dishevelled and completely socially unaware. How was this severely eccentric man not ONLY functional but mildly successful? He owned his own Real Estate business and was by his own admission a highly skilled salesman. His peculiar habits bordered on "disorders' and Despina being under qualified to diagnose him could only pray it would pass. Despina started to feel dubious. Had she made the single most tragic mistake in her short life by marrying this man? Perhaps her own ambition lead her to a path that was destined to perdition. Was America, fame and success worth being welded to an "abnormal" husband? Before she could make up her mind or weigh in the ramifications of her decision....she found herself pregnant. Life was going swimmingly, and the only thing missing was a baby to bind their rocky beginning in chains. Now Despina was officially committed to this marriage. In short, she was TRAPPED!



Being pregnant with Yianni as your co-pilot was very tricky. Despina found herself with a packed suitcase several times before Yianni talked her into a second chance. My Mother had an epiphany while she was pregnant. She saw the Virgin Mary holding baby Jesus. She was very religious so in Despina's mind this had a significant meaning. When Despina gave birth it was a boy. She named him Dimitrios after her father. ALL Greeks name their children after their parents. In my family people have two names: Dimitiros and Irene. Despina beamed with pride and doted over her newborn. She was also thrilled to have a distraction from Yianni. Jimmy, (as we called him in English), was a Godsend. He was extremely bright with accelerated learning skills. Despina was flabbergasted with Jimmy's ability to pick up and figure tings out at such an infantile state. He was the toast of the family, and he made her apparent mistake of marrying Yianni seem worthwhile...UNTIL that dim day that Jimmy stopped talking. He stopped interacting and became unfocused. It was like someone pulled the plug from Jimmy. It was sudden and devastating! This continued for 2 years. Above all heartbreak, Jimmy lost his ability to express love and affection. Everyday Despina held her breath waiting for Jimmy to say ANYTHING, but that day never came and with each passing day her denial grew and her hope faded. She took Jimmy to multiple doctors, but his "condition" was inexplicable. They could only conclude he was mentally retarded and "something else," which remained inconclusive. This void left Despina ramped with speculations. Maybe it was the spinal tap they gave my Jimmy? The doctors assured her the vaccination was not the causation of his apparent problem. In fact they suggested it was ludicrous! Two years following Jimmy's birth, Despina and Yianni decided they wanted to try again. Despite their anguish and struggle during the past couple years they made the decision to give Jimmy a sibling. Who knows maybe this would "snap him out of it." Above all, I believe they wanted another child to salvage their own sanity. They were both terrified and excited when Despina found herself pregnant with number two. She needed to have a "normal' baby. She didn't want another "sick" baby, as they referred to them in Greece. The pressure was intense. I felt her umbilical cord dancing around my neck. The fetus is suppose to feel the emotional and physical state of their mother. I felt hope mingled with fear. I was a whopping 10lbs when I was born. I was a born beauty queen, literally. As immoral as this may sound...and I don't agree with it one bit! I actually won a baby contest the day I was born. Yes! I was the cutest baby born that day in Beth Israel Hospital in Boston, Massachusetts. I won a little crown and a little sash that read: Baby Beth Israel 1966. My mother was beaming with pride. I renewed her faith. Until this very day, when I'm feeling like a loser, and underachiever or devalued...I remind myself: "Kid, you were born a winner! And don't you forget it!"