Father’s Day was celebrated across Australia this Sunday 3 September.
But for many of us, the day is a vivid reminder of a loved one lost too early.
Neos Kosmos is publishing below a brief note by Melbourne siblings John and Elizabeth Gertsakis on the occasion of this day, in memory of their own father and “all the fathers who left this Earth too early.”
John Gertsakis recounts:
“I was 12 when he passed in 1977 aged 51. Sadly, he was a major shareholder in British American Tobacco at the time. While he wasn’t into father’s day as such, he loved to celebrate on his name day under the Greek Orthodox calendar. As my sister Elizabeth writes in her photographic exhibition Innocent Reading for Origin 1987 (Monash Gallery of Photography Collection)…”
Elizabeth Gertsakis takes on from there:
“He was most happy on his name day being a naturally understated but very witty raconteur who had an infinite number of hilarious and satiric tales born from poverty to tell. Friends and family would arrive and he was in his element. Days were spent in preparation and it was open-house all day and into the evening. The kids would all disappear into the backyard and the girls would help serve and wash plates and glasses. Cakes and sweets were brought by guests, and dish after delicious dish of mezes and other Greek food would appear.”
“Today I’ll remember him with a strong little Greek coffee, but will skip the Peter Stuyvesant soft pack,” John Gertsakis concludes.
