Mark Aherne is a middle-aged, married man living in Chicago. He’s estranged from his parents in Boston, his father having bullied and belittled him throughout his childhood. One Sunday he receives a desperate phone call from Leslie, his sister, who has cared for their parents for many years. She needs help: his aging parents are sick and have started drinking again. Mark soon finds himself back with his sister dealing with their parents’ loss of independence. As he cares for his parents, he remembers the past when he lived with his father’s emotional effect on him and the family. Although Mark now recognizes the humor in many of his childhood memories, he still recalls those that filled him with guilt and a sense of separation. As he slowly comes to understand his family’s dysfunction, he discovers secrets in his parents’ lives that led to their own unhappiness. While coping with his mother’s dementia and his father’s stubborn isolation, Mark fears his own aging as he learns to lay to rest the experiences of his childhood.