Yiayia Effie Tzaferis was born for the camera. Sitting on her couch at home, her daughter Dimitra Mormanis and granddaughter Renee Mormanis conducted a practice run of her interview with The Greek Herald on camera… unbeknownst to us at the time.
Before long, the mock interview found its way to TGH Headquarters and naturally we had to make it a reality.
@_nurserenee Yiayias first mock interview 😂😂 #foryou #fyp #viral #trending #greektiktok #greek #grandma #sydney ♬ original sound – NURSE RENEE
Having already prepped and primed for our interview, Ms Tzaferis got stuck right into telling The Greek Herald about how she feels so young in her 90s.
“Every morning I wake up, I light the oil lamp, I go to my icons and pray to Panagia and ask that she keeps my family and the world happy and healthy. God gives me everything I need in droves… I’m also stubborn!” she said.
“I walk for one hour in the morning and one hour in the evening. I never stop moving in my house. From the moment I got to Australia, I never once touched any fast food. I love to cook all kinds of Greek cuisine. I like to cook kokkinista, pork ribs with celery, potatoes and tomatoes. I make a nice pastitsio and moussaka.”
Ms Tzaferis has played a starring role in her granddaughter Renee’s TikTok videos since the beginning of the year, but the duo have been making videos long before then.
@_nurserenee The tv is always on MAX. volume lol #foryou #fyp #viral #trending #greek #greektiktok #grandma #funny #trump #sydney ♬ original sound – NURSE RENEE
“We always make videos every time I go to her house with my sister. Essentially, we have a massive memory bank of really funny stuff and doing things that we won’t share on social media; that’s just for us to have as memories,” Renee said.
“Eventually we thought, why don’t we start making videos to share more widely? She has a very funny personality and it resonates with a lot of other families. Yiayia loves it. When we go over, we put the camera up and she talks to it. She’s always camera ready.”
The family now regards her as somewhat of a social media star.
“She knows we share the videos, but she doesn’t really understand that people are watching her from all around the world,” Dimitra said.
Ms Tzaferis added, “I have great girls. I like that people get to watch what we do. I wait for her to come and visit so we can make our videos.”
Decades prior, Ms Tzaferis couldn’t have imagined the life that lay ahead of her. Being the second eldest of many siblings, her youth was filled with hard work.
“Life in Greece was difficult. We didn’t have the things we needed so I had to work. I was digging, carrying wood, I was doing all kinds of work. I had to get up in the middle of the night to collect the wood to start the fireplace at home before everyone woke up,” she said.
Ms Tzaferis came to Australia from Levidi, Arcardia in 1956, following her brother.
“Then I came to Australia and worked even harder,” she said.
As she began making a life for herself in Australia, Ms Tzaferis like many women at the time found herself behind a sewing machine, working as a seamstress.
Those days were made a little easier when she found her beloved Yianni.
“My brother knew a lot of people and he introduced me to my husband. We spent such wonderful times together. We went everywhere. My husband is an islander from Samos, so naturally we had to be close to the sea, so we lived coastally. We would head to the beach, go fishing; they were great years,” she explained.
“We had two girls, Dimitra and Fotini. I have five grandchildren and three great-grandchildren now.”
As she closes in on almost seven decades in Sydney, the three-generations of women reflect on Ms Tzaferis’ youthful spirit.
“She loves listening to the girls gossip and chat about their boyfriends. She thrives on it; it’s like she’s reliving her youth through them. She loves when we make her up and she still feels 20. I was talking to her about it recently. I said ‘You’re 92 but you still feel 20 on the inside?’ She says ‘Yes, that’s how I feel’,” Dimitra said.
“She’s unique; she’s not your average yiayia. She’s funny, she’s serious. As she’s gotten older, we’ve noticed in the last 10 years, she gives it to everyone. She says it as it is. There’s no filter, she’s tough, she doesn’t care. But she’s got a big heart.”
Whilst prayer, hearty home cooked meals and walks are the perfect ingredients for a long fruitful life according to Ms Tzaferis, the most important spice is of course, family.
“Yiayia has really put a huge emphasis on family as a whole unit and really instilled our Greek Orthodox culture. She’s always made sure we’re together, always bonding and connecting with one another. It’s helped us create this really strong support network within our family,” Renee said.
