Stuck in the Middle

The Rollercoaster of Status

Trouble at Home

Downwardly Mobile

Be Careful What You Wish For

Val comes from an Italian-American working class family who always encouraged her to excel in whatever she wanted to do. She went through her bohemian phase: left college, moved to the city and eventually married and divorced a "downtown" artist. All through her travails, her parents remained steadfast in their support, both emotionally as well as financially (when they could). Then Val met and married a fantastically wealthy real estate broker. Tom also came from a working-class immigrant background but his extended family invested early in land and fulfilled the American Dream and then some. Val was now able and willing to pay back her family for all their support. Val's father, however, a prideful man from the old school, would have none of it. She tried to pay off their family home but the checks have gone uncashed. She bought him a brand new SUV, but it sits neglected in their driveway. Their annual Thanksgiving dinner has become more than a little uncomfortable. For the first time in her life, Val finds that her relationship with her parents is very strained.