1953 finds an 8 year-old Libbie living in a two family apartment on the South Side of Chicago. She dreams of owning her own horse and having a birthday approaching, she uses every remote opportunity to remind her parents that the only thing she really wants for her special day  is a horse.  She leaves drawings inside their papers that her parents take to their office.  She decorates cakes with icing drawn to resemble the horses of her dreams.  She fashions a saddle and bridle for her cat, Mitten, and has him parade around the house, hoping they will notice.  

Her overly curious imagination has another passion and it rests in her parent's bedroom in the form of a looking glass that had belonged to her Grandmother Ceilia, who had died before she was born.  She somehow knows that one day, if she is alone and looks into that mirror, her Grandmother will be looking back. One quiet morning, as her sister sleeps and her parents are  away at the office, she sneaks into the forbidden territory of her parents' room, walks quietly over to the dressing table and lifts the mirror.  

There is no reflection, only a mist.  As she stares deeply into the grey haze, she hears the sound of horses' hooves on cement pavement.  Louder and louder grow the rhythmic beats and suddenly, out of the fog emerges a fine carriage drawn by two of the most magnificent Hackney ponies she had ever seen.  There, right before her eyes, she sees a lovely woman, dressed in a white flowing gown, wearing a  hat with pink ribbons and lilacs tucked neatly in the band.  The beautiful woman swings open the door and float down the stairs and as she finally came face to face with Libbie, struggling with the words, Libbie whispers,

"Grandma, is that you?"