Tina and Maurice Shaw meet in the turbulent days of World War 11. They fall in love and marry before Maury joins the Medical Corps in France.
When they return to the States, the couple move to a small town in Pennsylvania with Maury's two Army buddies. The bowling alley they jointly purchase fails, and Maury finds a sales job in Philadelphia.
The couple has four children and the young family flourishes. But Tina discovers Maury's infidelity and they undergo a contentious divorce. Three of the children, Billy, Darlene and Matthew, reside with their mother, who goes through a dark period of alcohol dependence, and neglects her children. Are the siblings able, using their own resources, to weather the crisis?
After several trying years, Tina rises out of despair and the family goes through a healing process. Billy becomes attached to a band of teenage friends and they go on risky and comic adventures.
Billy earns his driver's license and he and Matt go for a joy ride, with tragic consequences.
Drowning in guilt, Billy loses the will to live. He isolates himself from everyone, until he receives a letter from his estranged father, inviting him for a visit. The young man embarks on a journey, not sure whether he wants to have any kind of relationship with a man he views as selfish and a failure as a parent. Will the reunion lead to strife or rapprochement?
Reaching an answer, Billy returns to his mother's home with renewed purpose and resolve to place the family tragedy in the past and get on with his life.
