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Tevis Lockwood is starting a new life with his daughters, Ashley
and Jasmine. Leaving behind the sun and heat of Los Angeles, they
move to the cold and rainy Seattle suburbs so Tevis can take
control of a large shipping company. His daughters are not overly
enthused about the move, particularly Jasmine who fears that the
cold and rain will bring illness with it. As they set about
unpacking and arranging the new house, Jasmine is increasingly
worried about the weather and the effects it might have on she and
Ashley. Monica arrives as part of the transition team for the
shipping company and with Gloria’s help, looks after the girls
while Tevis gets situated at work. Tevis arrives at the office
pleased with his new station in life and eager to make an
impression on the world. When he finds the reception desk empty,
Tess shows up with a resume and answers the phone for him.
Impressed by her initiative, Tevis hires her on the spot, not a
moment before Joaquin, the real receptionist arrives. Joaquin
explains that his doctor’s appointment ran late and that it won’t
happen again. Tevis agrees and fires him.
Later on, at home, Ashley begins coughing. Tevis, panicked, and
fearful for her health rushes her to the emergency room, where she
is diagnosed with the same stomach flu as all of the other
patients. She is released despite Tevis’s protestations that her
sickle cell anemia makes this particular flu a more serious
illness. Once home though, her flu goes from bad to worse, and
she is in the midst of a sickle-cell crisis. Tevis, no longer
trusting the local doctors, insists on taking her all the way into
Seattle to the Sickle Cell Clinic. He refuses to wait for an
ambulance. Halfway to the clinic, Ashley dies.
After the funeral, Jasmine is still having a hard time accepting
her loss. Tevis on the other hand doesn’t have time to feel the
pain, he’s too busy trying to inflict it on others. He hires
Andrew to sue the hospital and the doctor who treated Ashley for
malpractice and wrongful death. As a result of his drive to go
on, Tevis pushes his other daughter away when she needs comfort
the most. Finally Jasmine runs away, without a coat unmindful of
the weather and her own sickle-cell. Monica and Gloria are pretty
sure they know where she’s gone.
Jasmine sits on her sister’s grave trying to make sense of the
changes in her life, when Andrew appears and assures her that both
her sister and her late mother are in a place of peace and
happiness. He tells her that she needs to live without fear, to
be more than just Tevis’s daughter or Ashley’s sister. She needs
to live as Jasmine. When Tevis arrives, it’s his turn for a
revelation, and Monica offers one. He needs to stop trying to
control every aspect of his life, because its just not possible,
he needs to trust in others to do their part, and mostly he needs
to trust in God to look after everyone. Tevis’s drive to succeed
is a virtue, but not at the cost of his faith, and not at the cost
of his family. If he doesn’t take the time to live, he’s not
really accomplishing anything. |
