Maria Paxinos, Kalatzis/Liris

George's Mother gave her immigration papers to Eftychia, who in turn gave her immigration papers to my Mother. That's how all the birth dates got confused. Everybody had someone else's papers! Apparently Maria did not want to come to America because she had fallen in love with Tsagamilis' Father. She wanted to marry him. Spiro Paxinos, her brother, opposed the marriage because he was too old for her. Love overcame that objection. But there was some truth to the matter because shortly after Kosta Tsagamilis was born Maria's husband died. She later married Evangelos Goulis.

Before all that, however, Eftychia took her papers and became on paper Maria Eftychia Paxinos and my mother took Eftychia's papers and became Eftychia Aliki Paxinos and sailed away to America.

George Goulis' Mother Maria died from a heart attack. Apparently she had a stroke about 1.5 years prior to her death and was very physically disabled from the stroke. She died from a heart attack. George left for America and the very first letter he had from Greece was the one informing him of his Mother's death. I guess all the stress from having a child, having a husband die shortly after, the war, another marriage, poverty, uncertainty was too much for her.

In her pictures she looks very haggard and impoverished. Her sweater is torn and barely held together in her last picture. I wonder why she felt and looked like she was abandoned. So alone and very sad.