Having just finished her semester at college, Ruthie receives word that her paternal grandmother has died. She travels home for the funeral, shocked - she is struck by the knowledge of mortality, and reflects on her grandmother's life all through the train ride. She considers her maternal grandmother, who had struggled with illness for many years; her death had come as a 'freedom' from her suffering. Her paternal grandmother, however, had died quite suddenly, leaving her family sorrowful. Throughout her life, she had been full of vitality, cooking lavish meals for her grandchildren and indulging their every whim; despite this, Ruthie sometimes felt embarrassed at every reminder of her grandmother's age and her eccentricities. With her death, this shame transforms into guilt, and she remembers her grandmother with much more fondness than she had felt while the woman was alive. Ruthie also dreads the funeral, since she is now old enough to be actively involved in the mourning process. She arrives home in a state of apprehension. The funeral is heavy with grief, and Ruthie feels herself just going through the motions. Her father breaks down, and she feels helpless at being unable to say anything. But the family comes together after the burial to organize the wake. They eat a meal together, telling stories of her grandmother and helping each other smile after the prolonged sadness of the funeral. Ruthie is comforted by this 'climate of the family,' and resolves to hold this warmth close the next time she finds herself fearing death.