Evening in Paris Summary

It is Christmas, 1960, and Rocio is at Woolworth's, shopping for her mother's gift. She has three dollars and spends the bulk on an "Evening in Paris" cologne set, which she is excited to be presenting to Nieves. As she looks at herself in the mirror at the cosmetics counter, she wishes she could be rich and beautiful and be spending an evening in Paris herself.

Like all Christmases, most of the packages under the tree are for Mother, from her students. These shall be carefully boxed up so that the girls may pick presents for their own teachers next year. The Christmas meal is a large roasted chicken, surrounded by typical Hispanic vegetables and empanadas. The kitchen holds many of mother's memories as well, on a shelf close to the table. Each item represents an incident or experience, including...