After the stroke, Lew Coley is surprised by how little of his body has held up. His vision has returned to normal, but his hearing has not, and his sleep is irregular at best. Most of all, he can no longer voice his thoughts with the words and sentences he wants to use. When communicating with his wife, Alice, over breakfast or the news, the speech comes out in phrases and words that somewhat echo what he really meant. Now that he cannot talk to his wife at all, he realizes that their discussions have run dry since long before the stroke. The only one he truly feels in conversation with is God, who he thanks for his blessings. Outside, he watches the mail lady, Mrs. Laffond, drive up to their house. She has a mannish look and is known for towing people out of the snow with her truck. She makes him think of his daughter, Wylie, who was always a tomboy growing up. A letter from Wylie reveals that she is pregnant, and Alice and Lew are supposed to fly and meet her in Seattle. He is looking forward to seeing her again but feels that his daughter lives in a modern world that is too unfamiliar and strange to him. He recalls a memory of harshly punishing Wylie after catching her with a girlfriend at a young age. He also thinks back on a kind of religious awakening he experienced with an old friend during college. Before leaving for the airport, Lew writes a letter to Wylie and seals it in an envelope to be mailed. Alice struggles to get him into the car, and they get stuck in the snow. Lew gets extremely frustrated that she cannot understand when he tries to explain what to do. She goes to get help and leaves the engine running. Lew ponders if he can get carbon monoxide poisoning and leaves the car running. In the distance, he can see the mail lady coming with her truck to tow them out.