"Thank you." " Hi, Rose." " Hi." " What ya hiding?" " Nothing." " What smells so awful?" " Ls a new fragrance I'm wearing." "I'm almost sure that I don't have to ask this, but you are aware that toilet water comes in a bottle?" "Here." "Cat food." "Rose, have you been feeding those strays again?" "I can't help it, Dorothy." "I heard them howling and moaning all night." " How do you ignore something like that?" " I'm used to it." "My room's next to Blanche's." "Boy, something smells good in here." "Whas for lunch?" " Ls cat food, Sophia." " Is that Seafood Medley?" "Yes, it is." "They used to feed that to us every Sunday at the home." "Ma, they did not make you eat cat food at Shady Pines." "I didn't say they made us eat it." "You have the option to go hungry." " By the way, I'm moving out tomorrow." " What?" "Ma, wait." "Come back here." "What do you mean, you're moving out?" "Your brother Phil called again." "This time Big Sally left him for good." "She packed up the four kids and moved to another trailer court." " I thought they had six kids." " Yeah, but she had to leave two behind." "I think if they cross state lines is a parole violation." "Sophia, you mean you're moving for good?" "Not for good." "I'm just gonna help him raise the kids." "I'll be back as soon as they graduate from high school." "Les see, they're 14 now, that should be about 10, 12 years." "Ma, you can't just run off to help Phil every time he has a problem." "I came here to live with you when you had a problem." "I did not have a problem." "You came to live here because the home burned down." "Thas right, Sophia." "Don't you remember?" " Hi there." " Ma." "Ma, whas the matter?" "Everyone is fine." "No one died." "The home burned down." " Are you all right?" "How'd you get here?" " I hitched." " Ma." " A cab." "I took a cab." "You should have called." "I'm perfectly capable of managing by myself." "I don't need help." " I'm a totally independent person." " I know." "I know." "I need $67 for the cab." "$67?" "Ma, this is crazy." "The home is 15 minutes from here." "My cab driver's Cuban." "He said there was an additional tax for a bilingual driver." "I'll take care of him." "Sit down, Sophia." "You must be exhausted." "Why?" "I rode in the cab, I didn't push it." " Sophia, honey." "How nice to see you." " Who are you?" " Ls me, Blanche." " You look like a prostitute." "Sophia, the things you say." "She didn't mean that, Blanche." "Of course I mean it." "Look at her." "My cab driver would fall in love." "I'll get it." " Harry." " My pretty." "Harry." "Everybody, this is Harry." " Harry, this is Rose." " Rose." " And Dorothy." " Dorothy." " This is Sophia." " Well, you must be Blanche's sister." "You must be blind." " Sophia's home just burned down." " Thas terrible." "Not to me." "It was a retirement home." "You know what they did?" "They set off the fire alarm in a retirement home." "Who can rush?" "Half the people have walkers, the other half can't get out of their chairs." "But they got bells going off like crazy." "You know what that does to hearts that only beat a few times a week?" "Ls not pretty." "We'd better go." "We have reservations." " I hope he's taking you to a cold climate." " Good night." "It was a pleasure." "Nice meeting you, Harry." "Have fun." "The man is a scuzzball." "Ma, the four of us have lived together for a long time." "How can you walk in here and announce that you're leaving?" "Warden, I could make a break for it, but I'm afraid you'd shoot me going over the wall." "Sophia, couldn't you just visit Phil?" "You don't have to move in permanently." "Besides, you won't be comfortable there." "They live in a trailer." "You won't have any privacy." "You won't get your own bedroom." "Please, we all have our own rooms here, and I still don't get any privacy." "One of us always ends up sharing a bed." "Every time someone visits," "I'm in your room, you're in my room, she's in her room, she's in your room..." " Look at me." " What?" " You're getting a cold." " No, I'm not." "Yes, you are." "Tomorrow you'll have a cold." "What is this, the curse of the cat woman?" " I'm a mother, I know these things." " Good night, Ma." "Good night." "Whas that smell?" "I don't smell anything." " Are you wearing something?" " A little Bengay on my knees." "A little Vicks on my chest." "A little Deep Heat on my neck." "What are you trying to do, pickle yourself so you'll live to be 100?" "Fine, I'll wipe it off." "Tomorrow I'll be in a wheelchair." " Good night, Ma." " Good night." "Keep it up, I'll need a Dramamine." " Ma?" " Is it morning already?" " No." "I just wanted to ask you a question." " What?" "How would you react if you were told that one of your kids was gay?" "Your brother Phil is gay?" "I knew it." "When he was a kid we couldn't keep him away from those gladiator movies." " Ma, Phil is not gay." " You mean you're gay?" "What, your friend Jean is having some sort of membership drive?" " Ma..." " Dorothy, I know you don't get many dates, but stick with what you know." "At your age, is very hard to break into something new." " Good night." " Ma, I am not gay." " I just wanted to get your reaction." " I'll tell you the truth, Dorothy." "If one of my kids was gay, I wouldn't love him one bit less." "I would wish him all the happiness in the world." "Ls because you're the greatest mother in the world, and I love you." "Fine." "Now keep your fat mouth shut so I can get some sleep." "Jean thinks she's in love with Rose." "Ma, come on, is not funny." "The hell is not." "Jean in love with Little Miss Muffet?" "Come on." " What is going on?" " Nothing." "Come on, now, I heard you laughing." "Whas so funny?" " For starters, Jean is a lesbian." " Ma." "Whas funny about that?" " You aren't surprised?" " Of course not." "I've never known any personally, but isn't Danny Thomas one?" "Not Lebanese, Blanche." " Lesbian." " Lesbian?" "Lesbian." "Lesbian?" " Isn't that where one woman and another..." " We already know what it means." "But Jean's a very attractive woman." "She could have any man she wants." " She doesn't want them." " Why not?" "A man has so much more to offer." "You know what I mean, Dorothy?" "Yeah, I found that out when Mark Perper ran for class president in the third grade." "Why?" "His slogan was, "Vote for me and I'll show you my weewee."" "He won by a landslide." "Well, I'll never understand what Jean doesn't see in the opposite sex, but if thas what makes her happy, is fine by me." " There's one other thing." " Jean thinks she's in love with Rose." "Rose?" "Jean has the hots for Ro...?" "I don't believe it." "I do not believe it." " I was pretty surprised myself." " Well, I'll bet." "To think Jean would prefer Rose over me." "Thas ridiculous." " Blanche, please." " You tell me the truth." "If you had to pick between me and Rose, who would you pick?" "Who?" "Blanche, pull yourself together." "I'm sorry." " Does Rose know?" " No." "Good." "I don't think you oughta tell her." "After all, she's not as worldly and sophisticated about these things as I am." "Absolutely." "If she finds out Danny Thomas is a lesbian, ill break her heart." "Salvadore, if you want to fool around, take off your T-shirt." "You're gonna get linguini all over me." "Ma, go back to sleep." "Ls just me, Dorothy." "Get the hell out of my bed." "Ma, have a heart." "The heat went out again." "I'm freezing to death." "You're the only one who has an electric blanket." "I'll die under here with you." "Your body's like a heat sponge." "You'll suck up all the heat and I'll get up in the morning a frozen fish stick." "Ma, don't be ridiculous." "Just turn up the heat." "Ls already on nine." "On ten you can cook a Lean Cuisine." "Good night, Ma." "Girls, can I please share your electric blanket?" "No." "Come on." "I can't sleep." "My beïs never been so cold." "Especially on a Saturday night." "All right." "Get in." " Listen, did you hear that sound?" " In my own bed, I'll do what I want." "I mean, it sounded like the heat kicking on." "Thank God." "Get back to your own beds." " Hi, everybody." " Well, what are you doing?" "I've been tinkering with the heater, trying to get it to work." "Rose, you're a genius." "Boy, thas a sentence you don't hear every day." "She's working great now, except for one little thing." "I turned the air conditioner on instead of the heater, and now it won't go off." "Great." "Now is gonna be colder inside than it is outside." "I think you're right." "There's an icicle forming on the nose of my bunny slippers." "Move over." " There, thas not so bad." " Get your bunny nose out of my butt." " Les just get some sleep." " Good night, Ma." "Good night, Moe." "Good night, Larry." "I'm not gonna be able to sleep." "I'm on the wrong side of the bed." "I usually sleep on the right side." "And I wanna be on the right side." "What the hell is everyone so particular about?" "In Sicily, four in a bed is a treat." "It means half your family is on vacation." "I slept with my two brothers until I was 17." "I was engaged to one for a very short period of time." "But thas a separate story." " I wouldn't mind hearing it." " Rose, shut up." "Everybody, stay where you are and go to sleep." "I have to work early in the morning." " Darn, I forgot something." " Go in your panamas." "No, is not that." "I forgot to say my prayers." "Rose, God wouldn't mind if you skipped a night." "He's very busy these days." "Most of his free time is spent talking to Pat Robertson." "Hello, God." "Ls me, Rose Nylund." "I'm sorry to be getting in touch so late tonight." "I hope I didn't wake you." "Oh, God." "One at a time, Blanche." "Anyway, I wanted to say I think you're still doing a terrific job." "Of course, there are some things I don't understand." "Like poverty." "And the spokesmodel category on Star Search." "But then again, you work your wonders in mysterious ways." "Two years ago on a night like this I'd have frozen to death, 'cause I was by myself." "Now I have Dorothy and Blanche and Sophia to keep me warm." "Not just on a cold winter's night, but all year long." "Take care of them, God." "If anything happened, I'd just..." "Rose, thanks for the lovely prayer." "Now shut up and get into bed." "Amen." " Nice work, Dorothy." " Wasn't me." "Sweet Jesus, am I in trouble." "Now I lay me down to sleep..." "Listen, girls, I love you all dearly, but I have to go" " Phil needs me." "You said Phil and his wife were getting along." "They were never right for each other." "She never appreciated him, never encouraged him." "With the right woman behind him, he could have had a real diamond in his front tooth." "Ma, you always stick up for him." "The fact is, he has always made the wrong choices when it came to women." "And you always made the right choices when it came to relationships?" "Need I remind the three of you of the yutz parade thas been through this house?" "Sophia, be fair." "At our age is not easy to find the perfect man." "Maybe we have all dated our share of losers, but I personally have had my share of winners too." "Please, you've ridden more winners than Willy Shoemaker." "All I meant was, there has been a variety of men in our lives." "Thanks again for the ride home, Dirk." "I'll see you at Tuesday's class." "I'll see you then." "Unless I see you before then." "If you wouldn't mind, maybe we could go out." "Why, Dirk, did I just hear you ask me for a date?" "Are you deaf?" "I heard him from here." "Blanche, you think maybe we could have dinner Saturday night?" "Why don't I just check my datebook and let you know?" " Sure." "I'll call you tomorrow." " OK." "Bye." "Bye." "Well, isn't this an interesting turn of events?" "Gosh, I just don't know what I'm gonna do." "He is a little bit younger than I am." "You know what I think?" "I can handle this relationship with Dirk." " I'm going out with him Saturday night." " Was there ever any doubt?" "Momentarily." "This is strictly off the record, but..." "Dirk's nearly five years younger than I am." "In what, Blanche?" "Dog years?" "I'm Blanche." "I'm Dorothy's roommate." "Would you get the door?" " Dorothy's told me a lot about you." " She left out one itty-bitty detail about you." "That I'm a priest?" "She didn't know." "Whad she think, you were just a boring dresser?" "She's never seen me in cleric's clothing." "I didn't know you priests could take your clothes off." " We do a lot of things real people do." " Except for one very important thing." "Boy, is that gonna put a hitch in Dorothy's plans." "Hello, I'm Rose Nylund." "You must be Frank." " Ls a pleasure to finally meet you." " Thank you." "Nice to meet you too." " Dorothy's talked about you for weeks." " Rose." "When she mentions your name, she practically glows." " I think she's smitten with you." " Rose." " He's a priest, isn't he?" " Yes, Rose." "I'm so sorry Hell Towwn was cancelled." "Frank, I'm sorry I kept..." "Please tell me thas a Nehru jacket." " No, is not." " Rose, les go heat up the lasagna." "Come on." "Come on." "Why didn't you tell me it was Father Leahy?" " I assumed you knew." " No, I didn't." "I mean..." "frankly, I'm a little embarrassed." "Yeah, well, me too." "What difference does it make?" "We can still be friends." "Of course we can." "I'm glad you're here." "Yeah, well, so am I." "You look lovely tonight." "I look like the mother of a Solid Gold Dancer." "Girls, I wanna give you my gift next, OK?" "I thought this was such a cute idea, I made the same one for each of you." "Here." "Sophia." "The Men of Blanche's Boudoir." "Ls a calendar." "Each month has the picture of a man who's brought some special joy into my life." "Blanche, honey, this is so thoughtful." " September?" " Yep." "I'm surprised you were able to walk in October." " So, where are you going?" " Out with a friend from work." "The friend you've been out with five times in three weeks?" " Yes." " All right, spill it." "Who is he?" "His name is Dr Jonathan Newman." "He's a psychiatrist at the grief centre." " So, you're seeing a psychiatrist." " Ls about time." "Hello, I'm Dr Jonathan Newman." " Are you absolutely sure?" " Yes." "May I come in?" "Please, please." "Please, come right in." " May I take your height... hat?" " Thank you." "You must be Dorothy." "Rose has told me all about you." "I wish I could say the same." "Blanche, this is Dr Jonathan Newman." "Get out of here." "Blanche." " But he's..." " A little early, yes." "But we're delighted to see him." " Hi, Jonathan." " Hello, Rose." "You're looking lovely." "Wait a minute." "Rose Nylund, you devil, you." " I just figured out whas going on here." " Blanche." "You were sore at me for inviting your friend without asking, so you hired this guy to come over and teach me a lesson." "You." "God, I wish I was dead." "Blanche, les go get the hors ïoeuvres." "Excuse us." "I have never been so embarrassed in my entire life." " I made a fool of myself, didn't I?" " Yes." "I feel awful." "Just awful." "Listen, if you don't want tonight to turn into a total disaster, you have to stop being so self-conscious." "You're right, of course." "Dr Newman is a guest in our home." "If I'm self-conscious, he'll be ill at ease." "I can't allow that to happen." "It would be unsouthern." " Thas a good belle." " Dorothy, get the door." "Shrimp?" "Sophia, isn't there anything we can do to convince you to stay?" "I wish you could, but my minïs made up." " My baby needs me." " What about me, Ma?" "You've always taken care of yourself." "You don't need me." "What about me?" "You were strong and independent even before I got here." " You don't need me." " What about me?" "You?" "You need the Wizard of Oz." " I'm gonna pack." " Sophia, wait." "Isn't there anything we can do to make you stay?" "Nothing." "My minïs made up." "I'm leaving in the morning." " You couldn't sleep either, huh?" " No." "I can't believe that Ma's really gonna go." "I spent two hours trying to talk her out of it, and she still insists she's leaving." " I just don't know what to do." " Let me get the cheesecake and we'll talk." " Oh, my God." " Blanche, whas wrong?" "Here we are in the middle of a crisis and there's no cheesecake." " Didn't we buy one yesterday?" " Yes, but I found two grey hairs." "Blanche, you're over 50." "Two grey hairs is no reason to eat a whole cheesecake." "I found the two grey hairs in the cheesecake." "So I threw it out." "Hi, girls." "I figured this might happen, so I went out and bought a cheesecake." "Rose, thas great." "Whas great is they fired that grey-haired baker who refused to wear a net." "Les slice this baby up and see if we can solve our Sophia problem." " Here, darling." " Thanks." "Do you know how many problems we have solved over a cheesecake at this kitchen table?" " No, Dorothy." "Exactly how many?" " 147, Rose." "The point I was making is that we have had a lot of great late-night talks right here." "Yeah, and most of them have been about sex." "We do talk about sex, but we talk about other things too." "We console each other, we help each other, we advise each other..." "Then we talk about sex again." "I am so glad that my date with Barry is tomorrow." " The fat won't have time to show." " It won't?" "No, it always takes a few days before it shows." " Where does it go in the meantime?" " To Connecticut." "How do I know where?" "With me, the minute it goes in my mouth, I balloon up." "I can go out to dinner and in the middle of the meal my pants are cutting off my circulation so bad, my feet are turning blue." "Well, I just wanna be svelte for Barry." "Barry Glick is very important to you." "Barry was the man that I wanted to be the first." "First where?" "On Mars, Rose." "My first lover." " So what happened?" " Stanley, thas what happened." "I went to a drive-in with Stanley." "He said he was being shipped off to Korea and could die and it would mean so much." "That was my part of the war effort." "It took three seconds." "I wasn't sure that we had done anything, actually." "Until nine months later when the baby came." "Then I figured out that we had." "You know, that was my only proof." "I waited till my wedding night." "No." "Yes." "And?" "And it was a surprise." "How is that possible?" "Another man showed up?" "What I mean is, I had never seen a man before." "A man?" "You know, a man." " No." " Yes." "What about your father?" "You never saw your father?" "My father?" "Oh, no." "My father?" "My goodness, no." "I woulïve simply died." " You don't..." " Easy, Rose." "Calm down, calm down." "Easy." "Easy." "The only things I ever saw were the animals on the farm." " You know, the bulls and the horses." " Tough act to follow." "Actually, that first night, I was kind of... well, appalled, I guess." "But Charlie was very patient." "It was really very nice - once I understood that thas what you were supposed to do." "That it wasn't some colossal joke, you know?" "Didn't you think it was a ridiculous thing to do the first time?" "No." "I didn't wait for my wedding night, honey." "I couldn't." "I had these urges." "You know, in the South we mature faster." "I think is the heat." "I think is the gin." "Anyhow, my first was Billy." "I remember it so well, just like it was yesterday." "That night under the dogwood trees-the air thick with perfume, and me with Billy." "Or Bobby." "Yeah, Bobby." "Yeah, it was Bobby." "Or was it Ben?" "Who knows." "Anyway, it started with a "B"." "That first time... did you have...?" "Are you serious?" "Why, many times." "Many, many times." " You did?" " You didn't?" "No." "It was nice." "Being near Charlie was nice." "But it was five years before I knew what made your eyes go back in your head." "Dorothy, did you have...?" "How could I?" "It always seemed to happen before I was in the room." " You're out of bed." "Ls wonderful." " No, it is not wonderful." "I was lying in bed eating, and if I don't get up and walk around, I'll get big as a hippo." "And life-if I can still call it that - has to go on in some form, so here I am." "I'll just spend my remaining years in the company of women." "Only reason I'm sticking around is to read Danielle Steel's next book." " 'Cause you're going through the change?" " I hate that expression." "What is the big deal?" "Ls nothing." "Look at it this way, you don't get cramps once a month." "You don't go on eating binges once a month." " You don't get crazy once a month." " You just grow a beard." " Don't listen to her." " You grow a beard, believe me." " I woke up and I looked like Arafat." " Oh, my God." " I never grew a beard." " You never grew brains either." "I tell you, menopause was wonderful for me." "It meant no more PMS." " I never had PMS." " Neither did I." "But I had a BMW." "All right, I have had it." "Thanks to all this bickering, I have a headache." "Girls, les face facts." "The three of us can't agree on anything." "It is obvious we were not meant to live together." " I hate to agree, but I think you're right." " I think so too." "In fact, I know so." "This is exactly what happened during the Great Herring War." "The Great Herring War?" "Between the Lindstroms and the Johanssons." "That Great Herring War." "The two families controlled the herring waters off the coast of Norway." "So, naturally, it seemed it would be in their best interest to band together." "Boy, was that a mistake." "They couldn't agree on what to do with the herring." "Thas understandable." "The possibilities are overwhelming." "Exactly." "The Johanssons wanted to pickle the herring, and the Lindstroms wanted to train 'em for the circus." "Weren't they hard to see, riding on the elephants?" "Not that kind of circus." "A herring circus." "Sort of like SeaWorld, only smaller." "Much, much smaller." "But bigger than a flea circus." "Tell me, Rose... did they ever shoot a herring out of a cannon?" "Only once." "But they shot him into a tree." "After that, no other herring would do it." " You're making this up." " I'm not." "My grandfather told me that story." "Of course, he also used to call me by my sister's name." "And sometimes he'd wear his underwear on the outside of his pants." "Guess he wasn't a very reliable source." "Girls, do you realise what just happened?" "I know I've been having a very good time and there wasn't even a man in the room." "Was it just a fluke, or could we learn to like each other?" "I think it might take time, but I think it could be worth it." " Les give it a shot." " Great." " I'm game." " OK." "Wait a minute." "Whas that?" "I'm sorry." "Ls awful, but I have this incredible sweet tooth." " What is it?" " Cheesecake." " What kind?" " Chocolate." "I think this could be the beginning of a beautiful friendship." "This is unheard of." "We're halfway through the cheesecake and haven't solved our problem." "Maybe we can't solve it." "Maybe Ma is doing the right thing by leaving." "Your brother is such a yutz." "He had the nerve to ask me what I was making for dinner tomorrow night." " Whad you tell him?" " To have dinner waiting for me." "Not that I'm such a big fan of squirrel gumbo." "How do you expect to live together in the same house?" "You're not there yet and already you're fighting." "What, this is Little House on the Prairie?" "We're at each other's throats all the time." "There are more fights here than at Caesar's Palace." "Dorothy." " Where's my heating pad?" " How should I know?" "If this isn't it, I'd like to know what other electrical appliance you've got under there." "Here we are, Sophia." "The perfect after-dinner treat." " A nice dish of Jello." " I hate Jello." "If God wanted peaches suspended in midair, he'd have filled them with helium." " What?" " Beat it, Rose." "I'm busy." " What are you doing?" " Ls Tuesday." "I'm cleaning out my purse." " Did all that stuff come out of your purse?" " No, I was also cleaning out my ears." "Thas where the Feenamint and the rain bonnet came from." "Why are you in a bad mood?" "Forgive me, but I haven't had sex in 15 years and is starting to get on my nerves." "Hi, Rose." "Did you get a chance to play with those lyrics I gave you?" "Yeah." "Listen to this." "That sounds great." "Les take it from the top." ""From the top." That sounds so musical." " Tickle the ivories, Rose." " Coochie-coochie-coo." "Rose, play or die." "Miami is nice." "So I'll say it twwice" "Miami is nice." "Miami is nice" "Miami is..." "Wait... wait a minute." "Wait a minute." "You put in an extra "Miami is nice"." "I had to." "It hurts the music if you don't put it in." "Bu the lyrics don't make any sense." "It goes:" "Miami is nice." "So I'll say it twwice" "I see your point." "What about this?" "Miami is nice." "So I'll say it thrice" "Who the hell says "thrice"?" " Ls a word." " So is "intrauterine"." "It does not belong in a song." "Miami." "You're cuter than" "An intrauterine" "Do we have any orange juice left?" "No, we're all out." "Honestly, to hear you tell it, you'd think all we do is fight." "I didn't say all we do is fight." "We also talk about sex." " We already talked about sex." " I'm shocked." "Ma, you're gonna miss us." "The four of us had a lot of good times together." " But plenty of headaches, too." " One thing you have to admit, is certainly never dull around here." "OK." "You shot my vase." "I heard footsteps and a man's voice and the alarm went off." "It was Lester." "He accidentally set off the alarm." " I'm sorry." " You shot my vase." " I didn't shoot Lester." " I'd rather you shot Lester." " I think I'll pass on the nightcap, Blanche." " Go on home, you old fool." " What happened?" " She shot my vase." "Thank God." "I hated that thing." "What are you doing shooting?" "Are you crazy?" "I heard a noise." "I thought it was the robbers." "I managed to live 80, 81 years." "I survived pneumonia, two operations, a stroke." "One night I'll belch and Stable Mabel here will blow my head off." "There's a man in your bed." " Sophia, there's not." " Why, you devil, you." "So that was what we heard." "Rose." " Rose got lucky." " Not so lucky." "The man in your bed is dead." " What?" " Dead." "Sophia..." " He's not dead." "I was just in there." " So was I. I went to put back your laundry." "I see there's a man on the bed, so I introduce myself, but he doesn't answer." "He's dead." " He's shy." "He's very shy." " Didn't sound so shy last night." "OK, fine." "Let a dead guy lie there." "Ls gonna be 98 degrees today." "It won't be pretty." "I'm sure he's not dead." "Rose, go look." "Come on, Dorothy, he's sleeping." "I don't wanna wake him." "You could light firecrackers in his nostrils, you won't wake him." "Blanche Devereaux." "Just a moment." "My God." "My rear tires have less pressure in them." "I'm ready." "The moon is hanging awful low in the sky tonight, isn't it, Busty?" " Josie." " It sure is, Biff." " It makes me want to kiss you, Josie." " Mind your manners, Biff." "Why, we're at the Fourth of July picnic." "The whole town is here." "To hell with this town." "Come away with me." "But you're a drifter, Biff." "I can't just pull up stakes and run off with you." "Please reconsider, Josie." "You're the prettiest girl in the county." "I need to have your answer now." "Whas it gonna be?" "I want you to take me, Biff." "Blanche, whas wrong?" " See, we have great times together." " And it won't be the same without you." "This isn't easy for me either, but I have to do what I have to do." "What is it I have to do?" " You're leaving." " Then I'd better pack." "What I'm gonna miss about Sophia most is all that good advice she gives us." "I guess, living all those years, she has a lot to draw on." "If she doesn't have anything to draw on, she just makes it up." "Sicily, 1912." "Picture this." "Two young girls, best friends, who shared three things:" "A pizza recipe, some dough and a dream." "Everything is going great until one day a fast-talking pepperoni salesman gallops into town." "Of course, both girls are impressed." "He dates one one night, the other the next night." "Pretty soon, he drives a wedge between them." "Before you know it, the pizza suffers, the business suffers, the friendship suffers." "The girls part company and head for America, never to see one another again." "Rose, one of those girls was me." "The other one, you probably know as Mama Celeste." "Ma, why didn't you use your key?" "I left it home." "I thought it would weigh me down." " Sophia, how did you do?" " Great." "Easily a personal best." " Tell us what happened." " It was electric." "The starter fired his pistol into the air, and I left half my competition in the dust." " You were that fast?" " No, it was the over-80 category." "Most of them dropped from fright." " You're kidding?" " Please." " There's a natural build to these stories." " Sorry." "So, finally, the race was underway." "I start off slow." "I'm cagey like a panther." "But when the time is right, I pounce." "The crowd is on its feet." ""Sophia, Sophia."" "My heart is pounding in my ears." "But then again, it always pounds in my ears." "I could see the finish line." "It was only two or three hundred yards away." "And then it happened, what every runner dreads:" "I hit the wall." " Ma, you ran out of steam." " No, I actually hit a wall." "In Sicily we never went to the doctor." "We went to the Widow Caravelli." "Whatever you had, she had a cure." "She was best known for this green salve she used to make to treat ear infections." "One day she gave a batch to Salvadore, the village idiot." "He misunderstood the directions and put it on his linguini instead of in his ear." "I guess if you're an idiot with a hearing problem, you do things like that." "As it turns out, it wasn't such a bad thing to do." "The stuff tasted great, and Salvadore decided to market it." "At first it didn't move so well." ""Linguini with ear salve" on a menu doesn't look too appetizing." "But once he changed the name to "pesto sauce," it moved like hot cakes." " Ma, you're making this up." " So what?" "I'm old" " I'm supposed to be colourful." "I'm gonna miss her." " Me too." " Me too." "I'm not gonna stand for it." "I am gonna march in there right now, tell her we need her every bit as much as Phil does." "Blanche, forget it." "Her mind is made up." " She said it a hundred times..." " I'm staying." "Good night." "Come back." "What do you mean, you're staying?" "Whas the problem?" "You already rented my room?" "What changed your mind?" "I just got off the phone with Phil." "Actually, it was Phil's wife." " She's back, poor thing." " "Poor thing"?" "She's in a state of shock." "She found out she couldn't do any better than Phil." "Not exactly a storybook romance, but an ending's an ending." "There you have it." "We're so glad you decided to stay, honey." "When we thought you were leaving, we talked about all the times we've shared." "It brought back a lot of great memories." "It wouldn't be the same without you." "Don't overdramatise." "Things aren't so terrific around here." "The hell they're not." "Things are terrific around here."