Personal Essays
A shadowy past
“Things need not have happened to be true. Tales and adventures are the shadow truths that will endure when mere facts are dust and ashes and forgotten” Neil Gaiman
We know the bare bones of my grandmother's unusual story. Remembering it as an adult, I see that there are many missing elements.
Her given name was Safiye. She died in 1984 and she was born in the early years of the twentieth century (we do not now precisely when) in Ereğli, a small town in the province of Konya in central Anatolia. We know she had some brothers and that she possibly came from a farming family.
As a young child (we do not know precisely when or why) my grandmother and her family visited the port of Izmir. They went on board a ship (we do not know why). When the time came to leave, her family noticed that little Safiye was missing. A search was undertaken, to no avail, and her family left the ship without her. The ship was well on its way to Cyprus when little Safiye reappeared. She was adopted by a wealthy and childless couple who happened to be on board. Her adopted parents seem to have looked after her well. And in due course, an advantageous marriage was arranged for her.
We know the bare bones of my grandmother's unusual story. Remembering it as an adult, I see that there are many missing elements.
Her given name was Safiye. She died in 1984 and she was born in the early years of the twentieth century (we do not now precisely when) in Ereğli, a small town in the province of Konya in central Anatolia. We know she had some brothers and that she possibly came from a farming family.
As a young child (we do not know precisely when or why) my grandmother and her family visited the port of Izmir. They went on board a ship (we do not know why). When the time came to leave, her family noticed that little Safiye was missing. A search was undertaken, to no avail, and her family left the ship without her. The ship was well on its way to Cyprus when little Safiye reappeared. She was adopted by a wealthy and childless couple who happened to be on board. Her adopted parents seem to have looked after her well. And in due course, an advantageous marriage was arranged for her.