Michael Lindstrom's wife of almost thirty years has died from breast cancer, and in the aftermath, he decides to take a leave of absence from his teaching job and travel around the United States to visit family and friends. Along the way, he learns the fates of a college friend who has dropped out of sight, a brother he has not heard from since he was a teenager, a sister who has estranged herself from the family, as well as a family secret that goes back over sixty years. He finds new friendships, and meets a woman, who, while not replacing his beloved dead wife, may well become his partner. When he returns to California, he is finally ready to accept his wife's passing and makes plans for the future.
