Carmela is one of momma’s daughters, one who enjoys dressing up and reminding her sisters she usually knows more than they do. She fell for Pasquale as a teenager and married him just before World War II began for the United States in 1941. When he was drafted, she moved back into momma’s house to have her first daughter, a girl all the sisters helped raise in those turbulent war years.
A combination of stylish and street savvy, she can shift quickly from polite to super-tough.
Husband Pasquale grew up a tough street kids in 1930s New York but like many Italian American boys, he has a creative side that comes out in his singing and his love of cooking, something he longs to do more of at his father’s Italian restaurant. Now the father of three girls, he’s given up his childhood love of baseball but clings to his one-time dream of becoming a famous singer.
New Year’s Eve at Grandma’s House is the story of a family and a time long since past. But within the story are elements familiar to everyone who has ever sat around a dinner table with their extended family.
At its core, it’s the story about people who love each other, sometimes bug each other, yet are there for each other in tough times and in good.
This is the second is a series of character profiles to help you know the Smaldone family a little better.