An Italian couple, Vittorio and Maria Bottini, live in San Francisco with their children, many of whom are already married and moved out. The youngest, Shirley, is fourteen and preparing for her confirmation in the Catholic Church. Though her older brother Franklin should still be living at home too, he has recently disappeared and gotten into trouble with his friends. A few days before Shirley's confirmation, Vittorio goes to the San Francisco court house to get Franklin, who has been caught stealing a car, and take him home. When Vittorio arrives, however, he sees a Chinese man paying Franklin's bail, and the boy soon leaves with this man, without as much as a glance toward his father. Later, Vittorio is at work at the mechanics shop when Shirley rushes over in a panic. Shirley's mother Maria has just received a telegram informing the family that her sister, brother-in-law, and nieces and nephew have just been killed in an accident after being hit by a freight train. Maria is now lying in bed moaning, so Shirley has come to get help from her father. Vittorio rushes home to comfort Maria, who has just lost her father the week before and now, grieving her sister's death, is sobbing and crying out that she herself is dying. Vittorio quickly calls the doctor to sedate Maria, and she stays asleep for several hours after the shot. Vittorio then comforts Shirley, who blames herself, since her aunt and uncle were traveling to visit for her confirmation when they were killed. When Maria's condition doesn't improve, Vittorio has her sent to a mental hospital, and his daughter-in-law Rosie begins coming over in the afternoon to make dinner. Rosie's husband Herbert has just joined the Army, however, and the couple soon move away, so Shirley takes over the cooking with Rosie's coaching. One day, Vittorio sees Franklin, who has still yet to return home, at a restaurant and asks him to visit his mother, but Franklin responds by saying that he wants nothing to do with the family anymore. Eventually, Vittorio takes Shirley to visit Maria, but only a few minutes after they arrive, Maria stops responding, frozen and staring at the wall. As they leave, Shirley tries to stop herself from crying. Four years later, Shirley and her father have adjusted to living in their house just the two of them. While Shirley has come to terms with it, however, Vittorio talks constantly about his family one day being reunited in their home. Shirley knows this will never happen, since Rosie and Herbert do not plan on moving back, no one has heard from Franklin in years, and her mother's condition is still not improving. Vittorio, however, cannot admit this and even includes Maria's father as part of the family, though he passed away even before Maria was sent to the hospital.