Ellee Seymour

Later today I shall be taking my mother Loula on a trip to Northern Greece,  on a trip down Memory Lane, to re-visit her  childhood places, during a time when Greece was ravaged by civil war, as well as World War 11 .

I just adore being in Greece. I love the smells of the warm pine leaves and the sound of the bouzouki, the country’s rich culture and history and its warm hearted people, as well the deep blue sea and sky. And of course, the Greeks invented many things so important in our lives today, including the wheel, which Shirley Valentine reminds us of so brilliantly.

Did you know there was an Ellee in Greek mythology? I have seen a unique painting of it in a restaurant in Volos. Mythology says that I have a brother called Frixos and our father was a Greek God who remarried, but the wicked step-mother plots our death, she is jealous of his affection for us. So Ellee and Frixos plan their escape on the ram with the golden fleece. As they fly high above the Aegean, they are warned not to look down. Only the temptation is too much for Ellee, she cannot resist and falls deep into the sea. I believe the area is known as the stunning Elounda Bay in Crete. I have a photo somewhere in my loft of that special painting of Ellee and Frixos holding on tight to the ram, her hair blowing back in the wind, unaware of the fate that lay ahead.

I do have an interesting family history which I should record. My mother’s uncle married into the Onassis family and his wife and other relatives were murdered by the Turks in Smyna in the 1920s. I’m afraid we have no contact with the Onassis dynasty, my mother’s remaining relatives moved to New York and were looked after by Aristotle. I also have a Greek great-aunt who reportedly became a nun.

Because my mother married so young and moved to England where she has lived for so many years, she sadly feels she has no roots, she feels neither Greek nor English. She also has a great voice and loves singing and as soon we arrive, I shall find some music on the car radio as I drive us to our idyllic hotel by the sea.

This next week is Loula’s week when she can speak her native tongue again and forget her worries. It will hopefully be a week of laughter and discovery, of adventures and relaxation too.

The best thing is not knowing what mysteries lie ahead …… 

Do you have special memories of holidays in Greece? Which is your favourite place?

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Celia and Sue were the best and worst of friends, they were drinking buddies. Celia told me when we visited Sue in hospital that if Sue died, she would soon follow. And now she has. Only I had no idea it would happen so soon.

Celia was quite rightly given a lengthy driving ban earlier this year after being caught drink-driving one morning while collecting Sue’s clothes to take to a charity shop. And as Celia is a lorry driver, she lost her livelihood. There are no excuses for that. Her sister told me that she recently had a fall at home and suffered brain damage and was in a coma for nine days.

What a waste of two young and very vibrant lives. These were two such intelligent, warm, funny, loving women. But they simply could not, or did, not have the will to help themselves, to conquer their demons.

I still have Sue’s happy smiling photo by my desk. I also took a couple of photos of her in hospital, with Celia by her side, but my dear friend Sue was unrecognisable.  What happened to Sue and Celia? I can’t believe they have now both gone.

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Lee Sheppard has a beautiful son he has never seen who was born after he  ”vanished into thin air” four years ago, aged 26.

The New Zealand rugby player had been at work on a late shift in Cricklewood, London during a snow storm in January 2003 and had only hours before been told the great news that he was going to becoming a dad. According to this report, he popped out for a cigarette, and was never seen again.

His wife Juliet spoke to him that evening when he arrived for his late shift as a supervisor at European Metal Recycling n Willesden, north London. But he never returned home. His credit cards and mobile phone have not been touched.

Juliet and Lee were both excited about starting a family. She has since returned to New Zealand where their son Jaden was born.

His distraught family travelled over from New Zealand and put up 700 posters along the route he would have walked.

Lee’s father Ken said the family were were “stuck in limbo” and would never move on with their lives until they found Lee or learned of his fate.

“Nothing has changed since the day Lee went missing as far as we are concerned. We’ve never stopped looking, we’ve never given up and we never will, not until we know”.

The family have vowed to sell their family house to fund their search for answers. Lee’s father said:

“Family is the most important thing you have on this earth. Anything else you can survive without.

“I know we are three years down the track, but I still believe we need to pursue it. We can’t just put our heads in the sand and let it go. We haven’t had closure. How can we forget it?”

Last year the family employed a New Zealand-based private investigating firm to help them in their search. I would like to know if any new leads were found.

As a mother, I’m sure I would feel exactly the same in his shoes. It must be so much harder too being based in another country, the same difficulties which the McCann’s are facing in their continuing search for Madeleine.

How can anyone vanish into thin air?

In memory of those who are still missing.

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