Cordelia is a retired gastroenterologist who worked her whole life in contemporary Boston. She has recently retired and purchased a lake home in New Hampshire, a feat her daughter Nancy can't understand. Fending off a deadly cancer and contemplating her many regrets, Cordelia makes her way to the lake house to canoe. Before getting in the canoe, she takes the various substances her doctor prescribed her, which makes her feel woozy. As she paddles, she realizes she's being pulled into a waterfall but doesn't have the clarity of mind to fight it. She drops into the waterfall, sees a vision of her friends and family for the last time, and succumbs to death.