Mothers and sons, Physicians, Widows 

Life was good for Liz and Jack Sutherland. In eighteen years of marriage, they had built a family, a successful law practice, and a warm, happy home near San Francisco, in a house on Hope Street. Then, in an instant, it all fell apart. It began like any other Christmas morning, with joy and children's laughter. But for Jack Sutherland, a five-minute errand ends in tragedy. And suddenly, Liz is alone, facing painful questions in the wake of an unbearable loss.

How can she go on without her husband, her partner, her best friend? How can she grieve when she must console five devastated children, including one with special needs of his own? Powered by her children's love, Liz finds the strength to return to work, to become both mother and "daddy," coaching her youngest son for the Special Olympics. And one by one the holidays come and go before her eyes: Valentine's Day without flowers and without Jack...Easter...July 4.... Then, just weeks before Labor Day, a devastating accident sends her oldest son to the hospital--and brings a doctor named Bill Webster into her life. Bill becomes a friend to Liz as he slowly heals her shattered son.