Tony Soprano glorified "old days" of the Mafia. Tony leaves out the violence associated with his criminal career. Tony tells Dr. Melfi a story about ducks landing in his pool. He describes his mother Livia, a cold, mean-spirited woman with whom he has an openly hostile relationship. By the end of the first session Tony has admitted that he feels depressed, but storms out when Dr. Melfi presses him further about the relationship between his symptoms and the ducks. When the family visits Green Grove, a Nursing Home where Tony is trying to place his mother, Livia's derisive outburst prompts a second
Livia Soprano childhood was poverty-stricken and miserable and her marriage to the tough and charismatic Johnny Soprano was Livia's ticket out of her parents' house. Together they had three children: Janice, Tony, and Barbara. She also suffered a miscarriage years after her youngest child was born and almost died from heavy bleeding. Life as a housewife was unfulfilling to Livia and she felt overwhelmed by her three children and unappreciated by her unfaithful husband. She liked listening to Connie Francis and The Pajama Game when she was younger. Cagey, manipulative, and self-absorbed, Livia Soprano seemingly derives little pleasure from life other than