Whats in a name

Papou – The most, commonly used Greek term for grandfather, also said as (O pappous mou), meaning, my grandfather. In a Greek family the children are brought up knowing that their papou and yiayia, grandfather and grandmother as well as their parents are pillars of the family. In most traditional Greek families, especially on the Islands the grandparents play a significant part in a child’s life growing up. This is quite common as it is a strong Greek custom to take in the grandparents to live with the family in a communal arrangement, it is also a familiar and beautiful to see both sets of grandparents living on the same piece of land with the couple and their children. With the grandparents in such proximity, it is inevitable that they will have an enormous influence on the children’s lives growing up, this is something that I have always envied as myself growing up on the other side of the world to my grandparents did not have this privilege.