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Lorena Watkins is dying. She has an inoperable brain tumor, and
only a matter of days left to live. As though this weren’t
troubling enough, she also has a twelve year old daughter, Grace,
and no family left to take her in. But what she does have, is a
strong faith, and a sense of hope. She walks the labyrinth of a
local church every day, taking that spiritual journey that will
bring her and her prayers closer to God. And it has worked,
because the angels are there and watching her unseen. They are
going to help her find a place for Grace, just as her faith has
found her a place in heaven. Lorena doesn’t know that help is on
the way though, she plans to contact social services and put Grace
up for adoption, something that she expects will turn out okay.
Lorena herself was adopted and loved her new parents dearly. But
she has one card she’d like to play first, and it’s a grim one.
Sidney Alcott works with the dead. He runs a funeral parlor, and
though he excels in his job, he has no real sympathy and his
condolences are made up almost entirely of play-acting. Whenever
the customers are gone the act drops and a very cynical man
emerges. It is this man that Monica comes to in search of a job
as a pre-needs counselor. When Lorena comes in to plan her own
funeral, and mentions her lack of money,
Sidney refers her to Monica, hoping that his new employee will get
rid of her. Monica, however, has other plans. She talks with
Lorena, learns about her tumor and her daughter, and comes to
discover that she has a beautiful singing voice. Later when
Sidney is need of someone to sing hymns, Monica brings her up.
She suggests that
Sidney
cuts Lorena a deal if she sings for some of the funerals and
cleans up around the parlor. Sidney grudgingly agrees. With
that, he closes the door on them, sits back, has a drink, and
wistfully fingers a sealed letter.
The nest day
Sidney
indulges in more alcohol to calm his nerves while preparing the
remains of a child. When Lorena’s daughter enters the room, she
sees the body, and it is only when Andrew insists on covering it,
that Grace finally overcomes her shock and flees the room. Andrew
is furious. He goes to Tess and tells him that he can’t finish
the assignment. He can’t handle Sidney. Tess tells him to pull
himself together and stop being selfish. She has him walk the
labyrinth and trust in God to put him where he needs to be. As he
walks the labyrinth, he is given insight, he knows why
Sidney
is so cynical and why Lorena needs to be where she is now. Sidney
is Lorena’s natural father.
Lorena knows this, she has in fact tracked
Sidney down, and has entered his life in the hopes that he would
be a good man and would be willing to take Grace when the time
comes. But the incident with the dead boy, and Sidney’s lack of
concern over what it might do to Grace, Lorena is certain that she
made a mistake. She intends to keep her appointment with social
services. She finishes her chores around the funeral parlor, and
gets ready to go to Grace’s ballet recital, but first she gives
Sidney
a ticket to the event. Grace wants him to be there, because
despite his surly behavior, she still likes him. Lorena delivers
the ticket, and leaves. Sidney meanwhile pulls out the unopened
letter and begins drinking, it is the letter that he never sent
his daughter. He wanted to tell her that he loved her and that he
shouldn’t have given her up, but after the death of his wife, he
just couldn’t handle the responsibility. And he’s never worked up
the courage to find her. While he drowns his sorrow in booze,
Grace dances on a stage, and Lorena dies watching her daughter.
When Monica finally confronts
Sidney about his daughter, and reveals her identity, it is too
late. Lorena is dead and
Sidney
is shattered. This new blow, has reinforced his cynicism, and he
has concern for no one but himself, but with a little help from a
few angels, he realizes that while he never got a chance to know
Lorena, he still has an opportunity to know her daughter. He goes
to Grace and asks if she’d like to stay with him.
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