Where the Waves Come to Rest

After growing up in a poor family in Kefalonia, Greece and eventually immigrating to the United States, Selma Contos tells her story through the people she knew and loved, and the landscape that shaped her heart. After surviving the Great Kefalonia Earthquake that rocked her island on August 12, 1953, she shares how her family not only survived, but thrived, and eventually immigrated to the United States for a better life. Though Selma lived with uncertainty for much of her early life, her grandparents, particularly her Nona Maria, planted seeds of spirituality in Selma that connected her with an existence beyond the chaos she knew. Through the invisible force of divine love, Selma was able to rest the pain and shame of her childhood and find comfort and assurance in the amazing journey that awaited her.

The survival mentality of the times, coupled with a cultural belief system stunted by isolation and poverty, left few resources to help build Selma's selfworth. And yet, a spark inside her fueled her desire to courageously embrace her values. Through introspection, faith and healing, she drew wisdom from her life experiences which she shares with us here. As the waves never cease, awareness and transformation is a slow and continual process, one that has shaped and rounded Selma like the churning sea smooths a rough stone.