Today was the mnimosyno, the 40-day Greek Orthodox memorial service for my dearly departed mother, Calliope Bougioukas Samaras.
The photograph of this hawk, which I believe is a broad-winged hawk, was taken in the Sebago Lake region by a friend of mine. He told me he captured it around the day she passed. This isn’t the first time he has photographed a living creature close to the moment a relative of someone close to him has died, and it fascinates me. The reader can come to their own conclusions about the possible connections. (broad-winged hawk, eBird)
The Greek word mnimosyno (μνημόσυνο) comes from mnimi (μνήμη), “memory,” the same root as Mnemosyne, the Titaness of memory and mother of the nine Muses. One of them was Calliope, the Muse of eloquence and epic poetry. My mother’s name was Calliope. Calliope - Wikipedia. My mother gave herself to her family, and she lived to see fourteen great-grandchildren. Her mother, my grandmother Triada, whom I am named after, was born on Sappho Street on the island of Lesbos.
Aionia i mnimi. Memory eternal.
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