7th Heaven s05e20 Episode Script
Regrets
7th Heaven When I see their happy faces Smiling back at me 7th Heaven I know there's no greater feeling Than the love of family Where can you go When the world don't treat you right? The answer is home That's the one place that you'll find 7th Heaven Mmm, 7th Heaven 7th Heaven.
So why'd you want to talk here? Why not in my office? Why not, uh someplace where we can eat? I don't know.
I like it here.
It's a special place, and it's not my place.
Oh you sure we couldn't do this over lunch at a special restaurant? Well, I'm not sure we couldn't do it that way, but I am sure that whatever I tell you shouldn't go any further than this church.
Okay, start talking.
You're hungry, right.
I am.
So, you were saying? Yesterday started out like any other day.
I mean, there was nothing unusual about it.
I had no feeling of anxiety or expectation.
Just an ordinary day.
That was Ginger.
Something is going on.
Why would you say that? Because Ginger is lying.
Ginger is lying? She is.
What about your dad? Is he lying, too? Yes, I talked to him yesterday and he sounded so strange that I called Ginger this morning to ask her what is going on with him and She lied.
Yes.
You know, if your father's having trouble related to his Alzheimer's, I think Ginger would know and I think she would tell you, so maybe it's just a personal problem between the two of them.
I hope they're not breaking up.
They're not breaking up.
Why would you even say that? I don't know why.
It just came to me.
And a lot of things that just come to me turn out to be true.
Well, if you're finished with your breakfast, you'd better grab your things 'cause your ride's going to be here in a few minutes.
Before I go, do you want to sign my petition? What petition? One of the teachers is being fired, and there's only three weeks of school left.
One of your teachers? Yeah, our Ethics teacher, Mrs.
Miller.
They're firing Mrs.
Miller? Not if we can stop them.
Why are they firing her? I don't know and I don't care.
I just don't want her to go, and neither does anyone else.
Maybe I should call the principal and get some more information before you go passing around a petition.
I tried to talk to the principal, but Mrs.
Mackoul didn't want to talk to me.
She practically told me it was none of my business.
That hardly sounds like the way Mrs.
Mackoul would phrase it, but, uh, put more delicately, more than likely it's a confidential matter.
I don't know and I don't care.
I just don't want Mrs.
Miller to get fired.
You must have a hundred signatures here.
And I'm not the only one who's passing this petition around.
Lots of girls are doing it.
Hey, wait a minute Lucy, Simon, Matt They don't even go to your school.
But they're students at a school just not my school.
And they don't want her fired either.
And it's the same principle, whether it's at my school or any other school: No teacher should be fired for no reason.
What are you doing? I'm a student, and it says right here, "Students who don't" believe that Mrs.
Miller should be fired," and I know Mrs.
Miller and I know she's a good teacher.
And I've got to get to school.
I'll have to get some more information.
You can't sign it anyway.
You're not a student.
Okay.
I'm a little surprised you signed that.
Our whole family signed it.
Why are you surprised I signed it? I noticed, uh, your name isn't on Ruthie's petition.
No, I don't put my name on anything like that.
I'm not even registered to vote.
That's criminal.
In America? In this house, register to vote today.
It's not voting season.
Do you like living here? Yeah, I love living here; I just don't want to register to vote.
I feel like it puts me on some government list.
You are.
You're on the government's list of registered voters.
Fine, but, you know, don't complain about one thing during this administration since you didn't vote.
I won't.
I promise.
I guess everyone's in a bad mood because of Grandpa and Ginger.
Grandpa and Ginger are not breaking up.
Is Ruthie upstairs telling everyone they're breaking up? Well, go and tell her to stop saying that, please.
It's not true.
But it could be true.
You sound almost happy about that.
Oh, I'm not happy, not really.
It's just that my father would have to eventually move in with us if it weren't for Ginger.
And? Well, he's my dad and he's my only living relative, and I would love if he moved in with us.
You think we could handle the kids and school and your dad moving in? Not that we wouldn't, you know, if you wanted to or if he needed us to, but, right now? Today? We don't have to consider it because Grandpa and Ginger are not breaking up.
Maybe Ginger can't handle it.
Maybe it's more than she bargained for.
Maybe she wants out.
We don't know that she doesn't.
I think we know that she doesn't.
What we think we know and what we really know are two different matters.
I completely agree with that.
Have you talked to Mary? No, not since she started going out with Wilson.
Is she going out with Wilson? I think we can assume she is.
Uh-uh, but you just agreed with me.
What we assume we know and what we really know are two different things.
Well, not exactly assuming, I asked my dad and he told me that, uh, she's going out a couple nights a week to meet Wilson.
I thought we always liked him.
Yeah, I thought so, too, but frankly, I was always nervous that he was a teenage father.
Well, if I'm not mistaken, Wilson is no longer a teenager and he's a very responsible father which is why we like him.
Like him or not, he's still a father.
Your point being? That Mary is alone in a city with a guy who's fathered a child.
She is 3,000 miles away, but she's hardly alone in a city; She's with my parents.
Well, unless she's bringing the colonel and Ruth on the dates with her, she is alone with Wilson.
But she could be right here alone with a guy who almost fathered a child.
No, but we like him and she'd be here with us and she'd hardly have a chance to be alone with him.
Good-bye.
Okay, I'm assuming you've got some information on some grave sin.
Otherwise, we're sitting in an uncomfortable place with empty bellies, for no reason at all.
I don't know if there's sin involved exactly, but just hang in with me, okay? I'm going somewhere with all this.
Any possibility you'd be going to lunch with it? It's worth all the boring details, believe me.
All right, convince me.
So I go down to my office, and I'm on the phone with Ruthie's principal, Mrs.
Mackoul.
She's usually so understanding, but she seemed annoyed from the time she picked up the phone.
I don't know how all the students became so misinformed.
No one is being fired.
So Mrs.
Miller is coming back next year? No, Mrs.
Miller is not coming back next year.
Is there a reason? Of course there's a reason.
Can I call you back? Really, Reverend, I wish you wouldn't.
This is a matter between the school and Mrs.
Miller.
Well, could you give me a few minutes of your time after school today? I know Ruthie's really upset about this.
I plan to meet with Ruthie after school tomorrow, myself.
But if you'd like to, you may join us.
Thank you.
You okay? No, I'm not okay.
Can I get you a drink of water? Uh, it's going to take more than water to fix this one.
"Fix"? Perhaps I used the wrong word.
Is Ginger with you? Didn't Annie just talk to her an hour ago? How do you figure that she's going to be here with me in Glenoak? I was at a hotel last night.
I flew in last night.
Sorry.
Did Ginger know you were coming here? Of course she knew.
She didn't mention it to Annie, so I asked her not to.
Look, would you be more comfortable if you called Ginger and she told you that I'm not out of my mind? I mean, the woman drove me to the airport for goodness' sake, but you're welcome to call her and check my story out.
You get one lousy diagnosis and the whole world thinks you're crazy.
Go ahead.
Call her.
Hey, Grandpa, what are you doing here? If I'd wanted you to know, I would have dropped by the hospital and told you.
Did you need something? Well, I did, but it wasn't that important.
Just tell me what you want.
And hurry up.
Mary called.
She is seeing Wilson.
I thought she was back together with that kid that's living at your house.
Robbie.
It's not the Alzheimer's, okay? You mean, you have seven of your own, plus that extra one.
I just couldn't remember because I couldn't remember.
Go on.
I just thought you'd want to know.
And you couldn't have called? The phone was tied up.
Robbie's talking to her.
I mean, they're screaming at each other and hanging up and then redialing and then hanging up.
Yeah, we get the picture.
So so I'm off to work.
Good-bye.
Will I be seeing you later? I don't know.
But if you don't see me later, don't tell your mother that I was here.
Why is everybody so upset about Wilson and Mary? Well, when she came home in February, it-it seemed as if she and Robbie might try to work things out.
Yeah, I know all that.
So, now she has another choice.
What's the problem with Wilson? I thought Annie liked him.
I thought you both liked him.
I thought so, but this morning, Annie told me she's not crazy about him.
I'm sorry to rush you, but are-are we getting to something here? I mean, 'cause, I'm really, really, hungry, and so far, there's still no mention of a single sin, e-except maybe Wilson, and I already knew about him, and so did you; So did Annie.
So, I'm with Grandpa.
What is wrong with Wilson? No, the question is, why is Grandpa even asking what's wrong with him? No, the question is, why couldn't you have told me this somewhere food is being served? I'm going to buy you lunch.
Just hang in there.
When I went into what Annie had said that morning You know, the stuff about Annie's not being crazy about Wilson because he's a teenage father, uh, her dad went crazy.
Oh, yeah, it's always the guy's fault.
Isn't it enough that Wilson suffered through the loss of his wife? Isn't it enough that he took responsibility for the child? Isn't it enough that he's a single father going through college? I mean, how good do you want the guy to be before he can go out with your daughter? Young people fall in love.
They have sex.
They-they father children.
They grow up, and they become responsible parents who work hard and do the best they can, and sometimes they never emotionally recover from the heartache of what other people call their mistake.
Why do I get the feeling we're not talking about Wilson? Because we're talking about me.
How are we talking about you? Annie has a sister.
Wow.
Hmm.
So, that's the whole story.
We can go to lunch now.
Oh, well Everything will be fine.
You know that, don't you? I know I usually feel that way about other people's problems, but, you know, I have a bad feeling about this one.
Oh, do you have to tell her today? I mean, if Annie's father is having only occasional forgetfulness, what's the rush? Her father's the one who pointed out to me that more than being forgetful, he feels belligerent, and that scares him.
You know, belligerence is another sign of Alzheimer's.
Yeah.
He thinks that the stress of hiding this secret is bringing on this particular symptom, and he's afraid a worse symptom will be brought on next.
Hmm.
Besides, what if this woman just comes to Annie and tells her? I was going to tell her last night, but, you know, the house got so busy, and then she had to go to school this morning.
This afternoon.
Oh, no.
I have to run.
I mean, I have a meeting with Ruthie's Principal.
Is Eric having an affair? No.
Then what was he talking about? I really can't tell you.
Sorry.
Eric! Eric! I don't know.
I don't know, man.
Do you have any idea? I saved you a seat.
What are we doing here? I got a note in my homeroom saying we got detention.
I did, too.
So did everyone.
It's too weird.
- There he is.
- Uh, there he is.
What's going on? I suppose you're all wondering what you're doing here.
Maybe this will answer your question.
I believe you all signed a petition for a teacher at a school that none of you attend.
I want you to learn something from this.
I'm going to be passing out other petitions, and I want you to read each petition carefully, and I want you to choose which ones you would sign and which ones you wouldn't.
Now, in other local news, the park commissioner has announced the Did you vote in the presidential election? Yeah, of course I voted.
By the way, it looks like Ruthie's petition made the news.
What are you talking about? They keep announcing that a petition being circulated by kids at a private school got thousands of signatures protesting the unfair firing of a teacher.
Oh, I got a bad feeling about this.
Yeah.
Me, too.
That's why I didn't sign it.
Well, did they say why they fired the teacher? Uh, there's some speculation that the principal's prejudiced.
You met her.
You met Ruthie's principal.
I mean, did she strike you as that type of person? She seemed nice.
That doesn't mean she doesn't hate people.
Hey, here it comes again.
Be with us at 5:00 when we try to uncover the reason a popular local schoolteacher was fired.
Now, let's take a look at our current weather conditions.
Are you okay? No, I'm-I'm not okay.
I know that woman.
Well, I hope so.
You signed the petition.
I just don't understand how you can do this to another woman.
It's a school for women.
It's our school.
Keyword: Our.
Our school.
And while it belongs to all of us myself included I have the responsibility of running it.
So just explain it to me.
How can you do this? That-That's okay, Reverend.
I want her to get it all out.
You have no idea how hard school is, and how important Mrs.
Miller is to us.
We love her, and we want to make sure this never happens again to anyone, even if they're not black.
In fact, Ruthie, I do know how hard school is.
I went to school for 20 years.
I've been a student, I've been a teacher, and now I'm a principal.
Now, I may not be perfect, but look what we've created here.
This is a healthy educational environment.
It's challenging, and it's rewarding.
And I-I find it hard to believe that after all the time I've spent with you that you think I'm unfair.
And more than that, you think I'm a racist.
Are you even listening to me? I am.
I hear what you're saying.
But just because I'm not agreeing with you doesn't mean I don't understand your point of view or hear you.
I hear you.
I do.
I'm simply trying to respond to what I feel are unfair accusations.
You don't know the facts in Mrs.
Miller's case, and I can't really share them with you.
But I can tell you this: It has nothing to do with Mrs.
Miller's being black.
I I wanted you to hear what I was telling Ruthie.
Maybe I just didn't say it well.
I hope you can talk to her.
You know, I like you, Ruthie, but I don't like that you've joined in this mass assault on me.
And I'm surprised.
I thought you were a leader, not a follower.
I've had a long day.
I appreciate your enthusiasm to pursue justice on behalf of Mrs.
Miller, but I think we should go home and think about what's happened and regroup when we're both less emotional.
Yeah.
Then we can team up and go after Mrs.
Mackoul together.
I don't think so.
And while I know Mrs.
Mackoul thinks it's a good thing for all girls to have the freedom to speak their minds, in this case, I think you are out of control.
I don't know anything about any of the issues in any of these petitions.
I don't get what we're all doing here.
Is this an official detention? No.
I just asked the principal's office to invite you all here.
No one's making you stay.
Wait.
Stay.
We're all going to be late.
We're going to get chewed out.
You tricked us? You're a teacher.
How could you be allowed to do that? And how did you get the principal to go along with this? I just told him about the petition you did sign, and he was more than happy to go along with this.
What do you have to do with that petition that we signed? You-You want this teacher at another school be fired that you don't even know? I know her, and I love her.
She's my sister.
Her name is Miller.
That's her married name.
Oh.
You and your friend should be very proud.
Your petition effort made the news.
It's on at 5:00.
I'm going to go put my books away.
I can't wait to see it.
I, uh I saw you at Morgan's church.
Yeah, I saw your car there.
I'm sure you saw me jumping up and down in your rearview mirror as you drove off.
What's going on? I needed to talk to Morgan.
No, I think you needed to talk to me.
What is up with this petition that Ruthie got us to sign? We just spent an hour in a fake detention because this Mrs.
Miller is the sister of this nut job teacher.
We thought it was a real detention, but as it turns out, it was just the teacher's way of getting back at us for signing the petition for Mrs.
Miller.
She's his sister.
I'm calling the school.
Look, don't, Mom.
Don't call anyone.
I have a feeling we all made a mistake signing that petition.
Hello.
Grandpa, what are you doing here? Yeah, we didn't know you were coming.
Dad, are you okay? Oh Am I? I haven't really had a chance to talk to Annie.
The news is coming on.
After the news, we'll sit down and talk.
They must be saving it for last.
That's what they always do.
They put the best stuff last so everybody has to watch the boring stuff before they get to the good stuff.
Not yet, but I will.
He will what? I didn't vote in the presidential election.
I wasn't registered.
And you like this one better than the other one? What are you so nervous about? You should all be nervous.
Why should we all be nervous? I-I can't say.
Why can't you say? Because it's confidential.
Do you know why Mrs.
Miller is being fired? Do you? Is it because Mrs.
Mackoul hates blacks? Because if it is, she should be prosecuted.
That's against the law.
For now.
Who said Mrs.
Mackoul hates blacks? Uh, it was on the promo as a possible reason why the teacher is being fired.
Mrs.
Mackoul, could you tell us why Mrs.
Miller was fired? Mrs.
Miller was not fired.
Mrs.
Miller asked to leave the school year a few weeks early for personal reasons, and at the time she did not want to share those reasons with anyone other than her family.
But now, evidently, I'm forced to by my well-meaning students and other well-meaning people.
When I heard the rumor that I was fired, I decided to let everyone think that, so I take full responsibility for the whole thing.
At the time, I had rather the kids think that I was fired rather than know the truth.
Please, Mrs.
Mackoul, tell them.
I-I can't.
I just can't.
Mrs.
Miller will be going into surgery tomorrow.
She has been diagnosed with advanced breast cancer.
As much as I love the girls here, I just felt it wasn't anyone's business.
I knew they would worry about me and worry can be a burden.
I want my girls to know, though, that I will do my best to beat this thing.
I just need some privacy.
So I hope that everyone can grant Mrs.
Miller her request.
Thank you.
I have to call her.
I feel terrible.
Unfortunately, Ruthie, you can't call her.
No one can right now, at least not without denying Mrs.
Miller what she wants.
But we didn't know.
I knew.
I helped her to her car the other day.
I just didn't know her name or that she was Ruthie's teacher.
She was really shaken.
She's waited a long time to see a doctor.
Her husband just died two years ago.
He had been waiting for approval from his HMO for surgery he needed, but they just kept him waiting too long.
What? It's my fault? No, it's not your fault.
It's just that medical care has become a political issue and everyone should pay attention to that.
Mrs.
Miller was so angry about what happened to her husband that she just stayed away from any medical care till she was really having problems.
I can't believe I signed that petition.
I feel terrible.
There must be something we can do.
I know; I feel terrible, too, but whatever we do, we all have to think about it carefully, keeping what Mrs.
Miller wants in mind.
Um, could I get you to go upstairs and think about all this while I talk to Grandpa? Sure.
Okay.
Oh, and check on the twins, will you? Do you mind? They should be up from their naps soon.
Look, I know whatever you want to tell me must be serious or Eric wouldn't have gone to talk to Morgan, but I hope it's not as serious as Mrs.
Miller's situation.
Oh, please, one of you, tell me.
I guess I should be the one to tell you.
I should even have told you first, Annie, but I just couldn't.
It's okay.
You can tell me anything, Dad, really.
I wish I could, but I-I think Eric will say it better.
It's a, a lucky person who doesn't have regrets.
Don't.
Don't tiptoe around this.
Tell me! I have always regretted a certain decision I made in life, but it now looks like it might turn out to be a blessing.
That was good.
Now.
When your father was 17, he had a girlfriend.
Oh, and that girlfriend has come back into your life? So you want to leave Ginger? No, that's not it.
I, I recently heard that my high school sweetheart passed away.
How did you hear that? From their daughter.
Whose daughter? When your father was 17 Are you going to start over? Your father and his girlfriend had a child.
Back in those days, the father of the child wasn't asked what he'd like to do.
He wasn't even told very much.
All I knew was that she left town, and I assumed she was pregnant.
I assumed correctly, but I never knew.
Her parents said they sent her out of town to take care of her grandmother, and although I tried my best to find out where she was, I never did.
I never I never saw her again.
And now the daughter has come.
No.
I'm his only daughter.
I'm your only daughter! I know you don't want to talk to me, Annie, so I'm just going to give you a few minutes while I check on your dad.
Hello.
I need your help.
I saw Annie and I saw the 5:00 news.
What can I do for you? This was a bad day.
Ah, maybe tomorrow will be better.
I don't think tomorrow is going to change anything.
If there's anything I can do You can put them to bed.
Love you.
Love you.
Oh, I hope we're not having one of those rolling blackouts again.
I don't think you're allowed to complain.
The president has something to do with electricity? Uh, not this one.
The house seems to be empty.
Well, Matt took Simon and Lucy down to the hospital to try and find Mrs.
Miller's brother.
Morgan's helping them organize a support effort for her if they can get permission from her, and then, of course, they also wanted to apologize.
Where's Ruthie? She's upstairs in her room.
She called Mrs.
Mackoul to apologize and and she went to work calling student volunteers to help out if needed.
How are you doing? Oh, on the Mrs.
Miller front, I should probably call someone to apologize, too.
I'm not exactly proud of signing that petition.
A lot of people are feeling that way, but it could turn out okay.
It really could.
I hope so.
I'm not exactly proud of how I reacted to Dad's news.
I wish I could have gotten you alone sooner and talked to you.
I tried calling him, but he's not at his hotel.
I called Ginger and he's okay.
How okay can he be? Why would this woman come to him now and make his life miserable? I'm not sure his life is miserable.
Of course it is.
Not knowing what happened to a child he fathered has been eating at your dad for 50 years.
I mean, he's relieved that this is finally out in the open, but he's also scared that you'll not only think less of him, but that you'll cut yourself off from him if he decides he wants to be friends with this woman.
She's only in town tonight.
Is he with her now? Her name is Lilly.
I don't want to know what her name is.
What are you thinking? What is my dad thinking? He's thinking that he has Alzheimer's and life is closing in on him.
He's thinking that when his memory goes, that you'll be kind enough to tell this woman who he is and what his life was.
He's thinking that, when he passes away, that this woman may be someone you would have as a friend.
Annie, you're a strong woman.
You can do this.
You have to do this.
He's your dad.
But we have our children to think about.
How would we tell them? I'll tell them.
But what if it turns out to be some unstable person who isn't who she says she is? What if she is who she says she is? What if she's nice? I love you, Annie.
And we've built a wonderful family together.
We know it's right here.
Let's let's live without regrets.
Okay, she's sleeping now.
What do you want? I really did learn a lesson today.
We all did All of us who signed that petition.
I'm so sorry about your sister.
So am I.
Me, too.
Hey, guys.
Hey.
Hi, I'm Morgan.
I'm a friend of the Camdens and minister of the First African Methodist Episcopal Church.
Uh, I quit going to church a long time ago.
So, did my sister.
Well, we're not soliciting memberships.
We're just here to serve you in any way we can.
And by "we" I mean, the members of our congregation and, uh, Reverend Camden's congregation, and the students and staff at, uh, Mrs.
Miller's school.
They're working together.
We've pulled together our volunteers to sit with your sister while she's here.
And when she goes home, we have volunteers to cook and clean, run errands, drive.
And we'll do the same for you if we can.
Anything we can.
We don't want to be in the way.
We don't want to invade your privacy.
We just want to be there for you.
If you decide you need help and if Mrs.
Miller decides she'd like some help.
My sister Ruthie's in Mrs.
Miller's class.
She helped me organize student committees who would like to see to it that your sister receives cards every day of every week of every month until she's back at school.
Of course they won't do that unless Mrs.
Miller's open to it.
They regret having caused her any pain.
Well, I gotta tell ya, I think my sister was just trying to spare the kids the pain of knowing she's sick.
Uh, she regrets not telling them what was going on before because she realizes that they couldn't possibly have gotten thousands of names on those petitions unless they all loved her.
And I think she's actually going into the surgery from a much better place than she was before all this happened.
Yeah.
Sometimes the very thing that seems like a curse turns out to be a blessing.
Hello.
I thought you might still be there.
I've got four phone lines here and only two at home.
Do you want something, Ruthie? Yeah.
I want you to make me feel better about screaming like a crazy person at you.
I already accepted your apology.
Apology doesn't seem like enough, does it? No.
It really doesn't.
So, what do we do? We just move on.
We've got bigger problems than words said in anger and hurt feelings.
And public humiliation.
Well, as it turns out, Ruthie, when the public found out what was really going on, I got a flood of phone calls thanking me for how I handled the situation.
That's good.
Maybe.
I try to stay neutral and not judge situations as good or bad.
I still don't feel better.
I don't know how to just move on.
What's going on at your house tonight? Big family meeting.
Grandpa's in town.
At first I thought he and Ginger were breaking up.
That's the lady he married after my grandma died.
But I think it's something else.
You have an interesting family.
Ruthie? I've got to go now, and thanks.
I am better.
So, what's going on? Yeah, if you don't mind telling us.
Is this a family thing? Should I even be here? Oh, yes.
Grandpa told us an interesting thing about his life just yesterday.
Seems that when he was only 17 he and his high school sweetheart had a child.
And he would have married this young woman, but her parents sent her away and he never saw her or the child and never heard what happened to them.
A couple weeks ago a woman came to him and told him that she's his daughter.
We don't know anything about this woman, but Grandpa and Ginger have have met her and talked with her.
And done a little homework and apparently, she is who she says she is.
Now, I wasn't going to share this with you until I had met her and, and talked with her and, and done my own homework, but I changed my mind.
I want you with me.
I need you.
I'm really nervous about meeting this woman.
And, um, I feel really sad that my father had another woman in his life before my mom and I'm a little jealous that my dad has another daughter 'cause I've always been the only one.
Well, we'd do anything for you, Mom.
Anything.
Thanks.
What do you want us to do, exactly? Me, in particular? Well, Robbie, with all your street smarts we think you size up people pretty quickly and we're interested in what you feel when you meet this woman.
Ruthie, you're also good at judging character.
I went around the bend with Mrs.
Mackoul, but that was temporary.
I'm there for you.
Matt, you've always been good at getting my mood up so, um, if I get down about this I can pick you up.
And Lucy, you're really a good listener, especially about matters of the heart.
And, Simon, you've always been good at giving practical advice, so I may be coming to you for help.
You know, I think this is really cool that you're including us in this.
Yeah, I feel like a grown-up.
I like the responsibility.
It's nice to feel needed.
Yeah, thanks.
Let's go.
It's okay.
I'm Annie.
This is my husband, Eric.
Welcome.
Lilly, isn't it? This is amazingly generous of you.
Oh, she's an amazingly generous woman.
Come in.
Here we are.
Uh, Lilly, these are some of our children.
Uh, Matt and Ruthie and Simon and Lucy and our friend, Robbie.
Hi, it's very nice to meet all of you.
Oh, well, sit down, please.
I feel really uncomfortable.
No, it's, it's okay, Grandpa.
Dad told us everything.
So, Lilly, Grandpa tells us you have to go home tomorrow.
But where do you call home? Chicago.
Ah.
So, now that the formalities are out of the way, can we ask you a bunch of questions? Ruthie.
Hey, I would feel really badly if you all didn't ask me a bunch of questions.
So, what do you do in Chicago? She has her own restaurant.
She's had it for 20 years.
She's single, no children.
She lives in a fancy high-rise.
So, how's the restaurant doing? Very well.
I could open a second.
Interested? Maybe.
Boyfriend? On-again, off-again with a lovely gentleman.
He's owns a competing restaurant.
So, what happened? That was a bad question, wasn't it? My parents died.
First my dad and then a couple of years later, my mom.
I was an only child, and I was having a hard time dealing with my grief.
So, someone suggested I look up my birth parents.
My birth mother died in a car accident a long time ago.
But I managed to trace your grandpa.
And I was very touched that he would meet with me.
I was very touched that you all would meet with me.
Would anyone like some cake? Uh, we have a lot of catching up to do.
I'll be right back.
I'll help.
Have a seat.
Thank you.
So maybe you'd like to ask us some questions? You want us to tell you about the one who got sent off to Buffalo? I know this must change the way you look at me.
Yes.
Maybe it does.
Maybe it's the first time I've looked at you as a person and not just my father.
And I love you more than ever, for always trying to do the right thing because, really, that's the only way to live without regret, isn't it?
So why'd you want to talk here? Why not in my office? Why not, uh someplace where we can eat? I don't know.
I like it here.
It's a special place, and it's not my place.
Oh you sure we couldn't do this over lunch at a special restaurant? Well, I'm not sure we couldn't do it that way, but I am sure that whatever I tell you shouldn't go any further than this church.
Okay, start talking.
You're hungry, right.
I am.
So, you were saying? Yesterday started out like any other day.
I mean, there was nothing unusual about it.
I had no feeling of anxiety or expectation.
Just an ordinary day.
That was Ginger.
Something is going on.
Why would you say that? Because Ginger is lying.
Ginger is lying? She is.
What about your dad? Is he lying, too? Yes, I talked to him yesterday and he sounded so strange that I called Ginger this morning to ask her what is going on with him and She lied.
Yes.
You know, if your father's having trouble related to his Alzheimer's, I think Ginger would know and I think she would tell you, so maybe it's just a personal problem between the two of them.
I hope they're not breaking up.
They're not breaking up.
Why would you even say that? I don't know why.
It just came to me.
And a lot of things that just come to me turn out to be true.
Well, if you're finished with your breakfast, you'd better grab your things 'cause your ride's going to be here in a few minutes.
Before I go, do you want to sign my petition? What petition? One of the teachers is being fired, and there's only three weeks of school left.
One of your teachers? Yeah, our Ethics teacher, Mrs.
Miller.
They're firing Mrs.
Miller? Not if we can stop them.
Why are they firing her? I don't know and I don't care.
I just don't want her to go, and neither does anyone else.
Maybe I should call the principal and get some more information before you go passing around a petition.
I tried to talk to the principal, but Mrs.
Mackoul didn't want to talk to me.
She practically told me it was none of my business.
That hardly sounds like the way Mrs.
Mackoul would phrase it, but, uh, put more delicately, more than likely it's a confidential matter.
I don't know and I don't care.
I just don't want Mrs.
Miller to get fired.
You must have a hundred signatures here.
And I'm not the only one who's passing this petition around.
Lots of girls are doing it.
Hey, wait a minute Lucy, Simon, Matt They don't even go to your school.
But they're students at a school just not my school.
And they don't want her fired either.
And it's the same principle, whether it's at my school or any other school: No teacher should be fired for no reason.
What are you doing? I'm a student, and it says right here, "Students who don't" believe that Mrs.
Miller should be fired," and I know Mrs.
Miller and I know she's a good teacher.
And I've got to get to school.
I'll have to get some more information.
You can't sign it anyway.
You're not a student.
Okay.
I'm a little surprised you signed that.
Our whole family signed it.
Why are you surprised I signed it? I noticed, uh, your name isn't on Ruthie's petition.
No, I don't put my name on anything like that.
I'm not even registered to vote.
That's criminal.
In America? In this house, register to vote today.
It's not voting season.
Do you like living here? Yeah, I love living here; I just don't want to register to vote.
I feel like it puts me on some government list.
You are.
You're on the government's list of registered voters.
Fine, but, you know, don't complain about one thing during this administration since you didn't vote.
I won't.
I promise.
I guess everyone's in a bad mood because of Grandpa and Ginger.
Grandpa and Ginger are not breaking up.
Is Ruthie upstairs telling everyone they're breaking up? Well, go and tell her to stop saying that, please.
It's not true.
But it could be true.
You sound almost happy about that.
Oh, I'm not happy, not really.
It's just that my father would have to eventually move in with us if it weren't for Ginger.
And? Well, he's my dad and he's my only living relative, and I would love if he moved in with us.
You think we could handle the kids and school and your dad moving in? Not that we wouldn't, you know, if you wanted to or if he needed us to, but, right now? Today? We don't have to consider it because Grandpa and Ginger are not breaking up.
Maybe Ginger can't handle it.
Maybe it's more than she bargained for.
Maybe she wants out.
We don't know that she doesn't.
I think we know that she doesn't.
What we think we know and what we really know are two different matters.
I completely agree with that.
Have you talked to Mary? No, not since she started going out with Wilson.
Is she going out with Wilson? I think we can assume she is.
Uh-uh, but you just agreed with me.
What we assume we know and what we really know are two different things.
Well, not exactly assuming, I asked my dad and he told me that, uh, she's going out a couple nights a week to meet Wilson.
I thought we always liked him.
Yeah, I thought so, too, but frankly, I was always nervous that he was a teenage father.
Well, if I'm not mistaken, Wilson is no longer a teenager and he's a very responsible father which is why we like him.
Like him or not, he's still a father.
Your point being? That Mary is alone in a city with a guy who's fathered a child.
She is 3,000 miles away, but she's hardly alone in a city; She's with my parents.
Well, unless she's bringing the colonel and Ruth on the dates with her, she is alone with Wilson.
But she could be right here alone with a guy who almost fathered a child.
No, but we like him and she'd be here with us and she'd hardly have a chance to be alone with him.
Good-bye.
Okay, I'm assuming you've got some information on some grave sin.
Otherwise, we're sitting in an uncomfortable place with empty bellies, for no reason at all.
I don't know if there's sin involved exactly, but just hang in with me, okay? I'm going somewhere with all this.
Any possibility you'd be going to lunch with it? It's worth all the boring details, believe me.
All right, convince me.
So I go down to my office, and I'm on the phone with Ruthie's principal, Mrs.
Mackoul.
She's usually so understanding, but she seemed annoyed from the time she picked up the phone.
I don't know how all the students became so misinformed.
No one is being fired.
So Mrs.
Miller is coming back next year? No, Mrs.
Miller is not coming back next year.
Is there a reason? Of course there's a reason.
Can I call you back? Really, Reverend, I wish you wouldn't.
This is a matter between the school and Mrs.
Miller.
Well, could you give me a few minutes of your time after school today? I know Ruthie's really upset about this.
I plan to meet with Ruthie after school tomorrow, myself.
But if you'd like to, you may join us.
Thank you.
You okay? No, I'm not okay.
Can I get you a drink of water? Uh, it's going to take more than water to fix this one.
"Fix"? Perhaps I used the wrong word.
Is Ginger with you? Didn't Annie just talk to her an hour ago? How do you figure that she's going to be here with me in Glenoak? I was at a hotel last night.
I flew in last night.
Sorry.
Did Ginger know you were coming here? Of course she knew.
She didn't mention it to Annie, so I asked her not to.
Look, would you be more comfortable if you called Ginger and she told you that I'm not out of my mind? I mean, the woman drove me to the airport for goodness' sake, but you're welcome to call her and check my story out.
You get one lousy diagnosis and the whole world thinks you're crazy.
Go ahead.
Call her.
Hey, Grandpa, what are you doing here? If I'd wanted you to know, I would have dropped by the hospital and told you.
Did you need something? Well, I did, but it wasn't that important.
Just tell me what you want.
And hurry up.
Mary called.
She is seeing Wilson.
I thought she was back together with that kid that's living at your house.
Robbie.
It's not the Alzheimer's, okay? You mean, you have seven of your own, plus that extra one.
I just couldn't remember because I couldn't remember.
Go on.
I just thought you'd want to know.
And you couldn't have called? The phone was tied up.
Robbie's talking to her.
I mean, they're screaming at each other and hanging up and then redialing and then hanging up.
Yeah, we get the picture.
So so I'm off to work.
Good-bye.
Will I be seeing you later? I don't know.
But if you don't see me later, don't tell your mother that I was here.
Why is everybody so upset about Wilson and Mary? Well, when she came home in February, it-it seemed as if she and Robbie might try to work things out.
Yeah, I know all that.
So, now she has another choice.
What's the problem with Wilson? I thought Annie liked him.
I thought you both liked him.
I thought so, but this morning, Annie told me she's not crazy about him.
I'm sorry to rush you, but are-are we getting to something here? I mean, 'cause, I'm really, really, hungry, and so far, there's still no mention of a single sin, e-except maybe Wilson, and I already knew about him, and so did you; So did Annie.
So, I'm with Grandpa.
What is wrong with Wilson? No, the question is, why is Grandpa even asking what's wrong with him? No, the question is, why couldn't you have told me this somewhere food is being served? I'm going to buy you lunch.
Just hang in there.
When I went into what Annie had said that morning You know, the stuff about Annie's not being crazy about Wilson because he's a teenage father, uh, her dad went crazy.
Oh, yeah, it's always the guy's fault.
Isn't it enough that Wilson suffered through the loss of his wife? Isn't it enough that he took responsibility for the child? Isn't it enough that he's a single father going through college? I mean, how good do you want the guy to be before he can go out with your daughter? Young people fall in love.
They have sex.
They-they father children.
They grow up, and they become responsible parents who work hard and do the best they can, and sometimes they never emotionally recover from the heartache of what other people call their mistake.
Why do I get the feeling we're not talking about Wilson? Because we're talking about me.
How are we talking about you? Annie has a sister.
Wow.
Hmm.
So, that's the whole story.
We can go to lunch now.
Oh, well Everything will be fine.
You know that, don't you? I know I usually feel that way about other people's problems, but, you know, I have a bad feeling about this one.
Oh, do you have to tell her today? I mean, if Annie's father is having only occasional forgetfulness, what's the rush? Her father's the one who pointed out to me that more than being forgetful, he feels belligerent, and that scares him.
You know, belligerence is another sign of Alzheimer's.
Yeah.
He thinks that the stress of hiding this secret is bringing on this particular symptom, and he's afraid a worse symptom will be brought on next.
Hmm.
Besides, what if this woman just comes to Annie and tells her? I was going to tell her last night, but, you know, the house got so busy, and then she had to go to school this morning.
This afternoon.
Oh, no.
I have to run.
I mean, I have a meeting with Ruthie's Principal.
Is Eric having an affair? No.
Then what was he talking about? I really can't tell you.
Sorry.
Eric! Eric! I don't know.
I don't know, man.
Do you have any idea? I saved you a seat.
What are we doing here? I got a note in my homeroom saying we got detention.
I did, too.
So did everyone.
It's too weird.
- There he is.
- Uh, there he is.
What's going on? I suppose you're all wondering what you're doing here.
Maybe this will answer your question.
I believe you all signed a petition for a teacher at a school that none of you attend.
I want you to learn something from this.
I'm going to be passing out other petitions, and I want you to read each petition carefully, and I want you to choose which ones you would sign and which ones you wouldn't.
Now, in other local news, the park commissioner has announced the Did you vote in the presidential election? Yeah, of course I voted.
By the way, it looks like Ruthie's petition made the news.
What are you talking about? They keep announcing that a petition being circulated by kids at a private school got thousands of signatures protesting the unfair firing of a teacher.
Oh, I got a bad feeling about this.
Yeah.
Me, too.
That's why I didn't sign it.
Well, did they say why they fired the teacher? Uh, there's some speculation that the principal's prejudiced.
You met her.
You met Ruthie's principal.
I mean, did she strike you as that type of person? She seemed nice.
That doesn't mean she doesn't hate people.
Hey, here it comes again.
Be with us at 5:00 when we try to uncover the reason a popular local schoolteacher was fired.
Now, let's take a look at our current weather conditions.
Are you okay? No, I'm-I'm not okay.
I know that woman.
Well, I hope so.
You signed the petition.
I just don't understand how you can do this to another woman.
It's a school for women.
It's our school.
Keyword: Our.
Our school.
And while it belongs to all of us myself included I have the responsibility of running it.
So just explain it to me.
How can you do this? That-That's okay, Reverend.
I want her to get it all out.
You have no idea how hard school is, and how important Mrs.
Miller is to us.
We love her, and we want to make sure this never happens again to anyone, even if they're not black.
In fact, Ruthie, I do know how hard school is.
I went to school for 20 years.
I've been a student, I've been a teacher, and now I'm a principal.
Now, I may not be perfect, but look what we've created here.
This is a healthy educational environment.
It's challenging, and it's rewarding.
And I-I find it hard to believe that after all the time I've spent with you that you think I'm unfair.
And more than that, you think I'm a racist.
Are you even listening to me? I am.
I hear what you're saying.
But just because I'm not agreeing with you doesn't mean I don't understand your point of view or hear you.
I hear you.
I do.
I'm simply trying to respond to what I feel are unfair accusations.
You don't know the facts in Mrs.
Miller's case, and I can't really share them with you.
But I can tell you this: It has nothing to do with Mrs.
Miller's being black.
I I wanted you to hear what I was telling Ruthie.
Maybe I just didn't say it well.
I hope you can talk to her.
You know, I like you, Ruthie, but I don't like that you've joined in this mass assault on me.
And I'm surprised.
I thought you were a leader, not a follower.
I've had a long day.
I appreciate your enthusiasm to pursue justice on behalf of Mrs.
Miller, but I think we should go home and think about what's happened and regroup when we're both less emotional.
Yeah.
Then we can team up and go after Mrs.
Mackoul together.
I don't think so.
And while I know Mrs.
Mackoul thinks it's a good thing for all girls to have the freedom to speak their minds, in this case, I think you are out of control.
I don't know anything about any of the issues in any of these petitions.
I don't get what we're all doing here.
Is this an official detention? No.
I just asked the principal's office to invite you all here.
No one's making you stay.
Wait.
Stay.
We're all going to be late.
We're going to get chewed out.
You tricked us? You're a teacher.
How could you be allowed to do that? And how did you get the principal to go along with this? I just told him about the petition you did sign, and he was more than happy to go along with this.
What do you have to do with that petition that we signed? You-You want this teacher at another school be fired that you don't even know? I know her, and I love her.
She's my sister.
Her name is Miller.
That's her married name.
Oh.
You and your friend should be very proud.
Your petition effort made the news.
It's on at 5:00.
I'm going to go put my books away.
I can't wait to see it.
I, uh I saw you at Morgan's church.
Yeah, I saw your car there.
I'm sure you saw me jumping up and down in your rearview mirror as you drove off.
What's going on? I needed to talk to Morgan.
No, I think you needed to talk to me.
What is up with this petition that Ruthie got us to sign? We just spent an hour in a fake detention because this Mrs.
Miller is the sister of this nut job teacher.
We thought it was a real detention, but as it turns out, it was just the teacher's way of getting back at us for signing the petition for Mrs.
Miller.
She's his sister.
I'm calling the school.
Look, don't, Mom.
Don't call anyone.
I have a feeling we all made a mistake signing that petition.
Hello.
Grandpa, what are you doing here? Yeah, we didn't know you were coming.
Dad, are you okay? Oh Am I? I haven't really had a chance to talk to Annie.
The news is coming on.
After the news, we'll sit down and talk.
They must be saving it for last.
That's what they always do.
They put the best stuff last so everybody has to watch the boring stuff before they get to the good stuff.
Not yet, but I will.
He will what? I didn't vote in the presidential election.
I wasn't registered.
And you like this one better than the other one? What are you so nervous about? You should all be nervous.
Why should we all be nervous? I-I can't say.
Why can't you say? Because it's confidential.
Do you know why Mrs.
Miller is being fired? Do you? Is it because Mrs.
Mackoul hates blacks? Because if it is, she should be prosecuted.
That's against the law.
For now.
Who said Mrs.
Mackoul hates blacks? Uh, it was on the promo as a possible reason why the teacher is being fired.
Mrs.
Mackoul, could you tell us why Mrs.
Miller was fired? Mrs.
Miller was not fired.
Mrs.
Miller asked to leave the school year a few weeks early for personal reasons, and at the time she did not want to share those reasons with anyone other than her family.
But now, evidently, I'm forced to by my well-meaning students and other well-meaning people.
When I heard the rumor that I was fired, I decided to let everyone think that, so I take full responsibility for the whole thing.
At the time, I had rather the kids think that I was fired rather than know the truth.
Please, Mrs.
Mackoul, tell them.
I-I can't.
I just can't.
Mrs.
Miller will be going into surgery tomorrow.
She has been diagnosed with advanced breast cancer.
As much as I love the girls here, I just felt it wasn't anyone's business.
I knew they would worry about me and worry can be a burden.
I want my girls to know, though, that I will do my best to beat this thing.
I just need some privacy.
So I hope that everyone can grant Mrs.
Miller her request.
Thank you.
I have to call her.
I feel terrible.
Unfortunately, Ruthie, you can't call her.
No one can right now, at least not without denying Mrs.
Miller what she wants.
But we didn't know.
I knew.
I helped her to her car the other day.
I just didn't know her name or that she was Ruthie's teacher.
She was really shaken.
She's waited a long time to see a doctor.
Her husband just died two years ago.
He had been waiting for approval from his HMO for surgery he needed, but they just kept him waiting too long.
What? It's my fault? No, it's not your fault.
It's just that medical care has become a political issue and everyone should pay attention to that.
Mrs.
Miller was so angry about what happened to her husband that she just stayed away from any medical care till she was really having problems.
I can't believe I signed that petition.
I feel terrible.
There must be something we can do.
I know; I feel terrible, too, but whatever we do, we all have to think about it carefully, keeping what Mrs.
Miller wants in mind.
Um, could I get you to go upstairs and think about all this while I talk to Grandpa? Sure.
Okay.
Oh, and check on the twins, will you? Do you mind? They should be up from their naps soon.
Look, I know whatever you want to tell me must be serious or Eric wouldn't have gone to talk to Morgan, but I hope it's not as serious as Mrs.
Miller's situation.
Oh, please, one of you, tell me.
I guess I should be the one to tell you.
I should even have told you first, Annie, but I just couldn't.
It's okay.
You can tell me anything, Dad, really.
I wish I could, but I-I think Eric will say it better.
It's a, a lucky person who doesn't have regrets.
Don't.
Don't tiptoe around this.
Tell me! I have always regretted a certain decision I made in life, but it now looks like it might turn out to be a blessing.
That was good.
Now.
When your father was 17, he had a girlfriend.
Oh, and that girlfriend has come back into your life? So you want to leave Ginger? No, that's not it.
I, I recently heard that my high school sweetheart passed away.
How did you hear that? From their daughter.
Whose daughter? When your father was 17 Are you going to start over? Your father and his girlfriend had a child.
Back in those days, the father of the child wasn't asked what he'd like to do.
He wasn't even told very much.
All I knew was that she left town, and I assumed she was pregnant.
I assumed correctly, but I never knew.
Her parents said they sent her out of town to take care of her grandmother, and although I tried my best to find out where she was, I never did.
I never I never saw her again.
And now the daughter has come.
No.
I'm his only daughter.
I'm your only daughter! I know you don't want to talk to me, Annie, so I'm just going to give you a few minutes while I check on your dad.
Hello.
I need your help.
I saw Annie and I saw the 5:00 news.
What can I do for you? This was a bad day.
Ah, maybe tomorrow will be better.
I don't think tomorrow is going to change anything.
If there's anything I can do You can put them to bed.
Love you.
Love you.
Oh, I hope we're not having one of those rolling blackouts again.
I don't think you're allowed to complain.
The president has something to do with electricity? Uh, not this one.
The house seems to be empty.
Well, Matt took Simon and Lucy down to the hospital to try and find Mrs.
Miller's brother.
Morgan's helping them organize a support effort for her if they can get permission from her, and then, of course, they also wanted to apologize.
Where's Ruthie? She's upstairs in her room.
She called Mrs.
Mackoul to apologize and and she went to work calling student volunteers to help out if needed.
How are you doing? Oh, on the Mrs.
Miller front, I should probably call someone to apologize, too.
I'm not exactly proud of signing that petition.
A lot of people are feeling that way, but it could turn out okay.
It really could.
I hope so.
I'm not exactly proud of how I reacted to Dad's news.
I wish I could have gotten you alone sooner and talked to you.
I tried calling him, but he's not at his hotel.
I called Ginger and he's okay.
How okay can he be? Why would this woman come to him now and make his life miserable? I'm not sure his life is miserable.
Of course it is.
Not knowing what happened to a child he fathered has been eating at your dad for 50 years.
I mean, he's relieved that this is finally out in the open, but he's also scared that you'll not only think less of him, but that you'll cut yourself off from him if he decides he wants to be friends with this woman.
She's only in town tonight.
Is he with her now? Her name is Lilly.
I don't want to know what her name is.
What are you thinking? What is my dad thinking? He's thinking that he has Alzheimer's and life is closing in on him.
He's thinking that when his memory goes, that you'll be kind enough to tell this woman who he is and what his life was.
He's thinking that, when he passes away, that this woman may be someone you would have as a friend.
Annie, you're a strong woman.
You can do this.
You have to do this.
He's your dad.
But we have our children to think about.
How would we tell them? I'll tell them.
But what if it turns out to be some unstable person who isn't who she says she is? What if she is who she says she is? What if she's nice? I love you, Annie.
And we've built a wonderful family together.
We know it's right here.
Let's let's live without regrets.
Okay, she's sleeping now.
What do you want? I really did learn a lesson today.
We all did All of us who signed that petition.
I'm so sorry about your sister.
So am I.
Me, too.
Hey, guys.
Hey.
Hi, I'm Morgan.
I'm a friend of the Camdens and minister of the First African Methodist Episcopal Church.
Uh, I quit going to church a long time ago.
So, did my sister.
Well, we're not soliciting memberships.
We're just here to serve you in any way we can.
And by "we" I mean, the members of our congregation and, uh, Reverend Camden's congregation, and the students and staff at, uh, Mrs.
Miller's school.
They're working together.
We've pulled together our volunteers to sit with your sister while she's here.
And when she goes home, we have volunteers to cook and clean, run errands, drive.
And we'll do the same for you if we can.
Anything we can.
We don't want to be in the way.
We don't want to invade your privacy.
We just want to be there for you.
If you decide you need help and if Mrs.
Miller decides she'd like some help.
My sister Ruthie's in Mrs.
Miller's class.
She helped me organize student committees who would like to see to it that your sister receives cards every day of every week of every month until she's back at school.
Of course they won't do that unless Mrs.
Miller's open to it.
They regret having caused her any pain.
Well, I gotta tell ya, I think my sister was just trying to spare the kids the pain of knowing she's sick.
Uh, she regrets not telling them what was going on before because she realizes that they couldn't possibly have gotten thousands of names on those petitions unless they all loved her.
And I think she's actually going into the surgery from a much better place than she was before all this happened.
Yeah.
Sometimes the very thing that seems like a curse turns out to be a blessing.
Hello.
I thought you might still be there.
I've got four phone lines here and only two at home.
Do you want something, Ruthie? Yeah.
I want you to make me feel better about screaming like a crazy person at you.
I already accepted your apology.
Apology doesn't seem like enough, does it? No.
It really doesn't.
So, what do we do? We just move on.
We've got bigger problems than words said in anger and hurt feelings.
And public humiliation.
Well, as it turns out, Ruthie, when the public found out what was really going on, I got a flood of phone calls thanking me for how I handled the situation.
That's good.
Maybe.
I try to stay neutral and not judge situations as good or bad.
I still don't feel better.
I don't know how to just move on.
What's going on at your house tonight? Big family meeting.
Grandpa's in town.
At first I thought he and Ginger were breaking up.
That's the lady he married after my grandma died.
But I think it's something else.
You have an interesting family.
Ruthie? I've got to go now, and thanks.
I am better.
So, what's going on? Yeah, if you don't mind telling us.
Is this a family thing? Should I even be here? Oh, yes.
Grandpa told us an interesting thing about his life just yesterday.
Seems that when he was only 17 he and his high school sweetheart had a child.
And he would have married this young woman, but her parents sent her away and he never saw her or the child and never heard what happened to them.
A couple weeks ago a woman came to him and told him that she's his daughter.
We don't know anything about this woman, but Grandpa and Ginger have have met her and talked with her.
And done a little homework and apparently, she is who she says she is.
Now, I wasn't going to share this with you until I had met her and, and talked with her and, and done my own homework, but I changed my mind.
I want you with me.
I need you.
I'm really nervous about meeting this woman.
And, um, I feel really sad that my father had another woman in his life before my mom and I'm a little jealous that my dad has another daughter 'cause I've always been the only one.
Well, we'd do anything for you, Mom.
Anything.
Thanks.
What do you want us to do, exactly? Me, in particular? Well, Robbie, with all your street smarts we think you size up people pretty quickly and we're interested in what you feel when you meet this woman.
Ruthie, you're also good at judging character.
I went around the bend with Mrs.
Mackoul, but that was temporary.
I'm there for you.
Matt, you've always been good at getting my mood up so, um, if I get down about this I can pick you up.
And Lucy, you're really a good listener, especially about matters of the heart.
And, Simon, you've always been good at giving practical advice, so I may be coming to you for help.
You know, I think this is really cool that you're including us in this.
Yeah, I feel like a grown-up.
I like the responsibility.
It's nice to feel needed.
Yeah, thanks.
Let's go.
It's okay.
I'm Annie.
This is my husband, Eric.
Welcome.
Lilly, isn't it? This is amazingly generous of you.
Oh, she's an amazingly generous woman.
Come in.
Here we are.
Uh, Lilly, these are some of our children.
Uh, Matt and Ruthie and Simon and Lucy and our friend, Robbie.
Hi, it's very nice to meet all of you.
Oh, well, sit down, please.
I feel really uncomfortable.
No, it's, it's okay, Grandpa.
Dad told us everything.
So, Lilly, Grandpa tells us you have to go home tomorrow.
But where do you call home? Chicago.
Ah.
So, now that the formalities are out of the way, can we ask you a bunch of questions? Ruthie.
Hey, I would feel really badly if you all didn't ask me a bunch of questions.
So, what do you do in Chicago? She has her own restaurant.
She's had it for 20 years.
She's single, no children.
She lives in a fancy high-rise.
So, how's the restaurant doing? Very well.
I could open a second.
Interested? Maybe.
Boyfriend? On-again, off-again with a lovely gentleman.
He's owns a competing restaurant.
So, what happened? That was a bad question, wasn't it? My parents died.
First my dad and then a couple of years later, my mom.
I was an only child, and I was having a hard time dealing with my grief.
So, someone suggested I look up my birth parents.
My birth mother died in a car accident a long time ago.
But I managed to trace your grandpa.
And I was very touched that he would meet with me.
I was very touched that you all would meet with me.
Would anyone like some cake? Uh, we have a lot of catching up to do.
I'll be right back.
I'll help.
Have a seat.
Thank you.
So maybe you'd like to ask us some questions? You want us to tell you about the one who got sent off to Buffalo? I know this must change the way you look at me.
Yes.
Maybe it does.
Maybe it's the first time I've looked at you as a person and not just my father.
And I love you more than ever, for always trying to do the right thing because, really, that's the only way to live without regret, isn't it?