As the New Year 1991 arrived, Rosanna was apprehensive about telling her secret to Angela. I’m only 42, thought Rosanna; that’s too young for me to remain a widow. Men find me attractive, and it’s unnatural to have to take a vow of chastity. I love you very much, Angela, but I hope you’ll understand. At my age I need the physical attachment and emotional affection of a man. Rosanna had made up her mind. The die was cast.

One evening at the end of January, she said to Angela, “For Saturday evening, I have invited for dinner a friend of mine, a Mr. Paul Dickinson. I met him at a Christmas party given by a business friend of mine.”

“So, why is he coming to our house?” inquired Angela with curiosity. “Why don’t you do business lunch in a restaurant?”

“Because it’s not a business thing, Angela. I want you and Paul to meet, to get to know each other.”

“Why should I know him? A total stranger. He’s nothing to me!”

“He’s something to me,” a determined Rosanna replied. “He’s a friend of mine, and we like each other. I welcome friends of yours to the house, why wouldn’t you welcome a friend of mine?”

“It’s not the same,” said Angela. “My friends hang around for an hour or two, and then they split. Your friend comes and stays.”

“If a friend of mine were to come here, if he were to stay with me, don’t you think I have a right to male companionship? Am I not entitled to be with someone who will take care of me now, and when I’m old?”

“I hear you,” said Angela. “You’re cool and young. You have to do things. I know that.”

“So what’s the problem then?” asked Rosanna, impatient.

“The problem is this. No strange guy is ever gonna take my father’s place.”

“But no man will take your father’s place,” continued Rosanna lovingly. “If another man should come into my life, he’ll never pretend to be your father. You should accept him for what he is, and not for what he is not.”

“Maybe you’re ready for another guy now,” said Angela furious. “And that’s all right with you, but it’s not all right with me.”

“But you just said you know these things, the things about women. Why then, such a rebellious and negative attitude?”

“Because I can still see Dad,” said Angela emotionally, “as if he’s here now. I see him at the kitchen table sitting next to me, and when you’re not looking, he steals vegetables I don’t like. When he sees five earrings on my ear and a diamond on my nose, he acts shocked, but then laughs at these and other silly things.”

“I understand your feelings,” said Rosanna sympathetically. “But we’re not in a make-believe world. In life we’ve got to accept things as they are.”

“Well, no stranger is gonna take away my memories of Dad,” continued Angela now hysterical. “Have you forgotten that we went to Dad’s funeral six months ago?” As tears were rolling down her cheeks, Angela ran to her room.