Jim lives with his wife Diane and their three sons on a ranch in Washington state. When the winters are particularly harsh, Jim is reminded of where he grew up in Saskatchewan, Canada, where his sister died when she was only two years old. When Jim and his family first acquire the ranch it is just a plot of land, so they live in the city and travel to the country to work on the house everyday. During this time, Jim meets Lem and Judy Holister, who live on a dairy farm a few miles away and work at the hospital in the city. One of his first times meeting Lem, Jim operates dangerous machinery to help his neighbor move his tractor from where it is stuck in the mud. Jim hopes the ranch will soon be successful like his neighbors's dairy farm, but he is determined to take his time making the house perfect, despite his wife's complaints. So his family lives in the rented house in the city for several years, and his parents move from the Midwest to join them there. It is not long before the couples begin to fight, and the next year Jim, Diane, and the boys move to the ranch while the house is still being finished, and Jim's parents find somewhere to stay in town. Living on the ranch is difficult, and the family is relieved when they finally have plumbing and hot water. One day, Jim goes to visit the neighbors and asks Lem about his service in Vietnam. Lem was a helicopter gunner, and Jim was a protester, so Jim doesn't share much about his thoughts, just that he spent some time in jail. Overall, Lem and Jim get along well and find common ground. Lem and Judy have spent years trying to adopt a child, and they finally bring home a baby girl right before Christmas. The next day, on Christmas Eve, Jim and Diane get a call from another neighbor that Lem was in a car accident the night before and was severely injured. They are not sure if he will be able to walk again. Jim and Diane plan to visit him in a few days when he is well enough to have company. Jim's family spends Christmas with his parents at their house in the town nearby, but Jim is distant, thinking about his sister's death and the way it affected his parents. Jim and Diane talk about it in the car on the way home, and Diane tells him he looked like he'd seen a ghost. Ultimately, after hearing Jim talk, Diane feels guilty for being hard on his parents. Jim tells her that guilt turns people into strangers. When they return home, they receive the news that Lem has died from a blood clot. That same day, Jim discovers that their pipes are covered in ice. Their plumbing is completely ruined and will need to be redone. Jim becomes overwhelmed, and his wife struggles to reach him. Jim decides to go next door and helps Judy and the rest of the neighbors around the farm. Soon they attend Lem's funeral with his family who has come from out of town. A few days later Jim receives a Christmas card from Judy, thanking him for his support. Jim begins to weep, standing outside by the mailbox, watching it snow and hearing the sound of distant music.