The record
Their Story
Maria was born above a bakery on Grace Street, in the part of Toronto where everyone's parents came from the same three villages. She trained as a nurse at St. Michael's and spent thirty-four years there, most of them on nights, because "that's when people actually need you."
She met John at a church dance in 1971, said no three times, and has been dancing with him since. They built the house on Napa Valley Avenue together — she hung the drywall while pregnant with Paul, and has the photo to prove it.
These days she runs the parish bake sale like a field marshal, feeds anyone who walks through the door, keeps the tomatoes going, and is learning to text. Sunday dinner is still at her house. It always will be.
