10By now, almost everyone in the village had lost someone in their family and it seemed they were all wearing black and everyone’s house was dressed in mourning. And yet life continued. Thomas, the veterinarian, was still making his rounds; Tatamare was keeping Agios Demetrius spotless; babies were born; the same men were sitting drinking tsipouro and listening to the news on Stahoulis’ wireless radio; only Costas was now with the army in Albania and his painfully shy older brother, Spiros, ordinarily a cobbler, was running the store. Holidays were celebrated: Christmas, New Year’s, the Epiphany. In the Triantafyllou house, which was still in mourning for Matoula, no holidays were celebrated including Zoitsa’s third birthday.
As the winter wore on, Maria Christina began thinking about the
