“The unexamined life is not worth living.”

-Socrates

A Brief Greek Family History (for David, Rita, Brian and Becca)

Grandpa George immigrated from Greece to the

United States around 1917. He died in the 1950s

when I was about seven or eight.

As an adult in 1988, I visited Greece. I saw lots of

older men who reminded me of my Grandpa, at least

given my faded childhood perception of him.

My father, named George after his father, looked

Greek, but was born and raised in the States. He,

an all-American boy, was not exposed to many

Greek customs, and other than facial features did

not exibit predominant Hellenistic tendencies.

He and his brother, Ray, were brought up during The

Great Depression by the nuns at St. Joseph Academy,

a military boarding school in the Chicago area. Dad

and his brother spent their summers with their mom

who ran a beauty parlor. Divorced from George Sr.,

Agnes Prokes was hard-driving woman of Czech descent.

I have two brothers, and we three were raised all-American

as well, homogenized white and not having any exposure to

or influence from our ancestral origins.

I’ve been told many times that I more than my siblings look

like my father. I have been to Greece, photographed the

Greeks, am an avid student of Greek history, have celebrated

with the Greeks, drank Retsina and Ouzo with the Greeks,

sang and danced with the Greeks.

I have watched Never on Sunday twice, and Zorba the Greek

five or six times. I sport a long full beard like Socrates, all of

which inherently and inextricably connects me to my Grandpa

George’s bloodline.

The other day, I bought a Greek flag on Amazon to give

my grand kids when I pass away. Along with Western

Democracy, Homer, Zeus, Athena, Alexander the Great,

Helen of Troy, Souvlaki and Baklava, I would proudly

pass along to them Grandpa’s Greek legacy as well.

Greek is more than a bloodline, it is a proud, historic

and cultural state of mind from where the Hajiannis

(changed to Hanch at Ellis Island in the earlier 1900s)

name and family originally came.

Oh, and you are entitled to fly the flag of the United

States with allegiance and pride too. They are to be

found in all sizes and shapes, are readilly available,

and much easier to get.

Opa! Opa!

                              -30-

Chris Hanch 7-4-2020