-. Born in the Usa

The family was still at the apartment on Agiou Polykarpou Street in the area of New Smyrni in Athens. This had been the family's first home since my parents had exchanged vows to be a married couple. It was a two bedroom apartment with a big kitchen area, a very large living room divided in two differenet spaces and one bathroom. Mother and father had the bigger bedroom while I was sharing the smaller one with my Yiayia (Grandmother in Greek). She was my mothers' mother.

It is a Friday night around 9pm. We are still waiting Mother to come home from work. Yiayia is in the back of the apartment in our room taking a nap. She is definitely snoaring at this moment. It only takes her 10 minutes of quite sleep and then she starts snoring with a deep loud snor that keeps me awake and all I can do, is start clapping loudly with the hope that she will get scared, wake up and stop snoaring. But usually, it is not effective. I only achieve to listen to my clapping as it is echoing in the room which keeps me even more awake and in the end I need to start counting the 100 Greek sheeps to put myself into sleep. Thankfully, it is not yet time for me to go to bed. Mother had promised to bring us souvlakia home from Thanassis in Monastiraki so we will stay up with father and wait for her while doing our favorite thing; watching American music videos. As father puts a tape in the VCR to play, I start having my first encounter with the then representation of the ultimate American Rocker; Bruce Springsteen. Blue Jeans stretched allowing me to visualize the singer’s sex, white shirt placed loosely inside the jeans, short sleeves turned towards the elbows and a cool slow movement of the hips as the singer dances.

“Look Maria, Look what he will do now” Dad said while Bruce was stretching his right arm to reach Courtney Cox who is one of his fans on the video and brings her on the stage with him to dance.

“And wait until you listen to the next song” he added

The lyrics started like this:

Born down in a dead man’s town

Born in the Usa I was

“BORN IN THE USA” father screams loudly in the living room

“BORN IN THE USA” I yell back at him

In America, the Born in the USA song expressed signs of hope in the daily fight of the standard American in following the American dream and not only. It had many more meanings.

In our Greek apartment, the Born in the USA song expressed signs of hope and love. Signs of a strong connection betwen a standard Greek father and his daughter. For few years, it became our home's anthem!

Right after that Rockin night at home, I remember father giving me one of my most memorable gifts, that is after the world globe, which I kept next to me by my bed for about a whole year. It was my first tape ever and most loved one since it had Bruce’s adorably shaped butt on the cover and the American flag as a backdrop. I used to take that tape everywhere with me. I hid it in the school bag and go proudly to listen to my school teachers preaching about Math, History and literature while I had my mind set at that moment that we were at the living room with Father singing as the band of Springsteen.

I often wonder now days if father ever thought that all I wanted to truly do when I left home to come to America, was to hear him saying in the land of USA the below lyrics from the Born in the Usa song:

I am a true Rockin daddy in the USA now

Because that is who he is becoming. It is not difficult to imagine the union with my father on the studio apartment on 6^th street once I will be an American citizen and father will be a true Rockin daddy in the USA. His smoky eyes and woolflike lined up teeth smiling of admiration for the woman I have chosen to become while glancing at the art-covered walls, the racks of books and the Finding Eidothea book cover mockup hanging as a big poster on the bathroom.

I give him to wear the leather used motorcycle jacket that I bought for him from a St. Marks vintage store. I am already wearing mine. The You Tube video of the Born in the Usa song is on. We are singing together again while mother cooks for us in my small east village gas stove the traditional Garozi family breakfast; two sunny side up eggs, sausage (the famous parizaki in greek) and small pieces of kasseri cheese.