Emily and Henry are an older couple moving through life, replete with memories, activities and the occasional visits from Henry's son John and his family. And then after a brief illness there is only Emily. Henry’s death leaves Emily facing what her marriage to him had meant, for hovering over it had been the image of Megan, his ‘dying too young’ first wife. Emily gives John the box of Megan’s things that Henry has kept all these years in a drawer, not trying to know more about its contents herself, despite the fact that in his delirium at the end, Megan’s name had been repeated again and again. It is Jan, Henry’s teenage granddaughter, who finally reads Megan’s notebook as she ponders love and relationships and her own awakening feelings. And then after a flare up at home, Jan comes to stay with Emily and in the ensuing relationship, both women come to a clearer understanding of who they are.