I have had many surprises but perhaps the biggest surprise, given that I had no children of my own, is that I ended up with so many children and grandchildren in my life, thanks to my husband’s previous marriage and my closeness to his children and their children. I always envied people who had big Italian families and while mine isn’t Italian, it is big. It always shocks me when we’re all together for some occasion or other that with cousins and nephews, it’s something like 25 people.