When a young Italian girl goes on vacation for Christmas with her family, her father splurges on her in Verona, and she decides that this is what true happiness is for a child.

A woman examines a period of time in her childhood spent with her sister and the babysitter's son, viewing it through the lens of an adult, and ponders how the experience might have shaped her as a person.

An afternoon at the park takes an unexpected turn for a mother and her son as the well-established families that they admire turn out to be unhappy people who secretly enjoy the misery of others. As the day progresses, the mother is surprised to learn that she and her son share many negative qualities with those families.

On his sixth birthday, a young boy receives a surprise present that forever changes his perspective on life.

A child observes their father’s strange obsession with dressing up the pole in their front yard as they grow up.

After her son dies, a mother reckons with the grandson he left behind.

When a paddle-boating excursion goes wrong, a family makes one final sweet memory to cling onto during the years of separation and sadness that follow.

Two siblings are thrilled at their father’s return to their home after a long week of work and, in their fervor for playtime with him, cause his well-being to take a turn for the worse.

On a cold December day, parents grieve for their son who was killed in a football game. A friend of their son helps them realize their son may have hid the feelings he was too afraid to show.

As she walks alongside the Hudson River with her friend, a woman excitedly explains her intricate vision of what would give her happiness.