A crowd of 30,000 or more is expected to turn out to watch the annual Greek Independence Day parade today along Jean Talon St. from Hutchison St. to l'Acadie Blvd. Then there will be crispy fried squid and salt cod and skordalia to eat and cold retsina wine to drink at a myriad of banquets in Greek homes, restaurants and church halls across the city. It is touted as the largest celebration of its kind outside the home country, where the anniversary of Greece's independence from the Ottoman Empire in 1821 is a national holiday. As it coincides with the Annunciation of the Virgin Mary, according to the Greek Orthodox calendar, it is of double importance. Even the mayor of Athens turned up last year.
Every Greek kid looks forward to marching in that parade.
But we knew what it was all about, too. Year after year, we heard about how much Greeks suffered under 400 years of Ottoman rule. We were never allowed to forget what happened. Karas now works with her father, George, in the family restaurant business. It was our parents' way of making sure we appreciated what we had and who we were.