Five Children, One Compass

"I gave them rules so that one day they would not need them."

Five children. Five different temperaments. One absolutely non-negotiable standard. Emmanuel, Patrick, Sheila, John Jr., and Laura grew up under a roof where homework was sacred, manners were currency, and Sunday Mass was not a suggestion.

She was, as the family says with a smile that contains the whole story, a thorough disciplinarian with a loving way. The two halves of that sentence belong together. The rules were strict because the love was serious.

All five are hardworking and successful, and each will tell you, in their own version of the same story, that the woman in the pink gele is the reason.