Henry Dousman hasn’t seen his mother, his siblings, or his nieces and nephews since his father’s funeral twelve years ago. As soon as he arrives at the family reunion, he heartily greets all of his relatives. However, they’re sullen and awkward. Each sibling came from hundreds of miles away, and they don’t feel comfortable around each other anymore. Their children and grandchildren have never even met. Nostalgia clouds Henry's thoughts, and he moves through the house not realizing that the good old days of their childhood are long gone. As the day’s festivities wear on, Henry spiritedly chats with his siblings Bertha, Annie, Adolph, and Fred. He also asks about Herb, their brother who ran off to Chicago decades ago and made a fortune in illegal gambling. The other elder Dousmans urge Henry to drop the subject—they haven’t seen Herb in years, and they don’t want to. Meanwhile, a photographer snaps a portrait of Ernestine, the Dousman matriarch. The old woman hasn’t said a word all day. In the afternoon, the men play baseball and the women relax on the hill. At least, they try to—Bertha and Annie can barely speak to each other, and their children follow their example. On the field, a controversial umpire call turns into a rowdy fight. Each woman suspects the other women’s husbands of starting it. In the late afternoon, some of the nephews take Adolph’s Buick for a joyride down the unpaved country roads. They careen into a glittering Cadillac. The well-dressed passengers are contorted and bloodied under the weight of the vehicle. The older siblings hear the commotion and run down the road. To their horror, they realize the young men crashed into Herb and his young girlfriend. The men lift their brother out of the car, but it’s too late. Herb is dead. For the first time all day, the emotional barrier between the aging siblings breaks. They comfort each other, and their mother Ernestine soothes Herb’s shocked widow. They bury Herb on the hill. As Henry heads back home, he wonders if the Dousman family can only be brought together by death.