I hadn‘t been aware that she always thought of herself as Cecilia Capuzzi. Not as Mum. I began seeing her in a new light, this small delicate woman, who even in high-heeled shoes was barely one and a half meters tall.

 

　　She never wore make-up or jewelry except for a wedding ring of gold. Her hair was fine, sleek and black and always put up in a knot in the neck. She wouldn‘t hear of getting a haircut or a perm. Her small silver-rimmed pince-nez only left her nose when she went to bed.

 

　　Whenever mum had finished a letter, she gave it to dad for him to post it. Then she put the water on to boil, and we sat down at the table and talked about the good old days when our Italian-American family had been a family of ten: mum, dad and eight children. Five boys and three girls. It is hard to understand that they had all moved away from home to work, enroll in the army, or get married. All except me.

 

　　Around next spring mum had got two more sons to write to. Every evening she wrote three different letters which she gave to me and dad afterwards so we could add our greetings.

 

　　Little by little the rumour about mum‘s letters spread. One day a small woman knocked at our door. Her voice trembled as she asked: "Is it true you write letters?"

 

　　"I write to my sons."

 

　　"And you can read too?" whispered the woman.

 

　　"Sure."

 

　　The woman opened her bag and pulled out a pile of airmail letters. "Read… please read them aloud to me."