A writer gives an account of his friend Dr. Tokai, a kind and sophisticated plastic surgeon who died after his first real heartbreak.

A dying man revisits his lifelong hobby of fishing while confronting memories of his dead grandfather and the traumatic experiences of his childhood.

In Iowa, a young violinist is asked to play at a famous poet's memorial. In the process, he gains a new perspective on who and why we grieve.

A deceased man’s friends and coworkers try to come up with the best way to mourn him and comfort his widow, even though it seems like she doesn’t need it.

A teacher reminisces about all his wonderful students of the Narrative Studies courses he has taught around the world before his career comes to an end.

Having just lost their mother, three siblings do their best to preserve her memory even as they deal with unsympathetic adults determined to force change into their lives.

A professor tries to convey to his students the magnitude of the most perfectly crafted poem ever written in the English language: “Lycidas.”

A woman comes home dreading her grandmother's funeral, but she finds that moments of shared sorrow allow families to come together and celebrate life.

A young man in a post-apocalyptic future embarks on a journey to take his parents' ashes to an impossible mountaintop ocean, despite tragic tales of the ill-fated travelers who made the journey before.

As they prepare to sell off their family’s house, two siblings reckon with the difficulty of their childhoods—and the tragedy of their third sibling.