Effie Papadopoulos (Tringas) born in Sydney on the 30th May 1969 at 4:45pm Bethista Hospital in Marrickville.  Lived in Enmore then moved to Lakemba.  I have a sister called Mary we are very close and she too has played a big part in my life.   I grew up with my fathers parents and attended St Therese Catholic School in lakemba. My Grandfather Angelo Tringas passed away when I was only just 2 years old.  Grandfather Constantine Theodore Papadopoulos passed away when I was 5 years of age.  Apparently I always hung around my grandfather, banging on the door of the garage and saying “  Papadopoulos, open up its the boss”  he used to crack up laughing.  As most people who know me I was a tom boy in my growing up years. 

August 1978 we decided to expand our wings and move to Darwin, as it was a good time for buying a business and a home as Darwin had experienced Cyclone Tracey and Darwin was being rebuilt. 

My parents bought a Restaurant which was attached to a sporting complex and this is where we met some of our closest friends to this day.  A big Hello to Theo Christo, Kyria Maria, George and Michael.  The kitchen of the restaurant was connected to the snack bar which we also owned.  The best years of my life where in the 80’s .  The friends, the music, what a classic time. 

In Darwin I attened St Marys, then St Pauls Primary School.  I went to Dripstone High school and made heaps friendships that I miss today.  A big hello to Linda, Elizabeth, Antoinette the group at DHS  I remember spending our closest moments at Wanguri Oval watching the boys playing soccer   Dripstone High School had changed to a Junior High school which meant Year 12 I had to attend Casuarina High School and wow had the best time of my life.  Again I made very close friendships with Artemis, Graca, Anna, Sergio, We often went to indoor Soccer  as the girls played while I watched.

A big part of my life consisted of Special Person who I was involved with for 7 years and was to be married to him.  However life has its way of changing the course or direction and you move onto bigger and brighter things.  I do often keep in contact with Costa, He lives in Greece now and is married to Matina.  Congratulations Costa and Matina on the birth of your son Stelio born 1st September 2007.  May God Bless him and Keep him safe.  We also have a mutual friend in Greece who we communicate with, Big Hi to Greg Olga and Sina.  

I worked in Supermarkets, Pharmacy’s, Markets, then finally I got a Job working in a Micrographics Bureau called CMS but is now called Nearline Imaging.  I worked for a great boss Mr Chris Kelly and Manager Stephen Hedge.  I made close friends with Tania, Ella, David, Nicky, Terry and many more I loved working there it was like my home.  What a challenge every month to get all the work completed.

Our parents bought a Farm (virgin land) in Fogg Dam and cleared it and planted 2500 mango seeds from scratch.  While the mango trees were growing we planted anything from tomatos, cucumbers, chilli, ocra, lettuce pineapple and what didnt we plant.  On school holidays we spent our time helping our parents pick and pack the produce.  When we got our first mango crop we had to do everything manually.  Wash each mango, dry it, weigh it, and pack it.  I remember we only did 1 pallet per day then.  Each year our parents invested in new machinery until we got our packing machine.  Wow what a blessing this was, we could pack more than 1 pallet per hour. We met and made great friends with alot of Backpackers who travelled the world and still keep in touch with some.

I was married in 1993 then divroced in 1995 as my ex husband and I came from 2 different backgrounds.  He often abused my mentally and close to the end was a little physical but not that bad like some.  I decided that my life was worth living and decided to leave him and my job that I loved so much and move to Sydney again with my parents. I want to thank all the people that helped me that day including my best friend Michael.  You kept me safe and I appreciate it so much.  So we said bye bye to Darwin and Flew to Sydney on the 5th May 1995.