In the 1970s, Sylvia takes care of her ten-year-old granddaughter Lisa for the summer, at her apartment in Iowa. Lisa’s father / Sylvia’s son Aaron is in the hospital in Boston, on life support after a heart attack. Lisa is rather chubby, and Sylvia tries to feed her healthy foods. Sylvia feels guilt for letting Aaron eat too much, too, growing up—and thinks that may have played a part in his heart attack. The apartment neighbor Mrs. Tillman, however, keeps giving Lisa candy (and at one point even spanks Lisa for misbehaving), which angers Sylvia and makes her think about what rights people have to control their own family members as opposed to strangers. On the 4th of July, Sylvia gets a call from her daughter saying they are going to take Aaron off of his ventilator and he is going to die. Sylvia wants to get on a flight to Boston immediately, but her daughter says this is not about her. To keep Lisa distracted throughout the day, Sylvia takes her to a 4th of July block party. Lisa dresses up as Patrick Henry and recites a speech on stage at the block party: “Give me liberty or give me death!” Sylvia reflects on how sometimes you can get neither.