Pre-1989, Romania was under the reign of Nicolae Ceausescu, and part of his regime involved the demolition of village houses as a way of forcing residents to move into his own controlled, tower block apartments. The ration of apartments to houses was uneven, and as a result many families were left homeless. In the words of D’Amato: “Life, it is a gift, and we should always remember that some people get an easy life while some others are not that lucky.”