Cris cleared his throat and I turned to see him standing in the doorway. With the carpeting, I hadn’t heard him come up the stairs. He had his hands in his pockets as he reluctantly walked into the room to join us. I wonder why he changed his mind?

He picked up where Rosie left off, obviously overhearing our conversation. ‘Back then, Dominio women were more reserved and their only role was to take care of their children and their husband. Even if my mother had wanted to work, I don’t think my dad would have allowed it because it would have cut into her duties at home. Besides cooking, cleaning and taking care of us kids, she would cut my dad’s hair and lay out his clothes every morning, among other things.’

Rosie looked at me with a wry smile, ‘Now sure, I enjoy cooking and taking care of Cris, but he’s perfectly capable of picking out his own clothes and going to the barber.’ She chuckled before saying, ‘But that’s nothing compared to some of the stories he’s told me over the years.’

‘Oh really?’ I asked, intrigued. It felt so good to be finally getting some truths about where I came from. ‘Like what?’

Rosie glanced at Cris, intimating he should take this question. He grabbed a folding chair and sat down next to the boxes with us.

‘Well, when I was young, anytime my dad had friends over to watch football, us kids were told to go play in our rooms. After my mom laid out all the food she’d made for them, she would stay in her room as well. As a kid I assumed we were being punished, for what, I didn’t know. It was like that old adage, “kids should be seen and not heard”, except it seemed we weren’t even allowed to be seen and neither was my mom.’

‘Seriously? Well, I’m glad times have changed,’ I replied before turning the page in the photo album still resting in my lap. The old paper pages crinkled as I flipped them.

‘That next one there is your mother’s First Communion,’ Rosie said, not skipping a beat as she pointed to the photo at the top of the newly revealed page.

‘Your grandmother loved to take photos. Frank bought her an expensive camera when Teresa was born and she was rarely without it. She took a lot of care in preserving these memories,’ Cris chimed in, a rare softness taking over his features as he looked at the old photo.