I Almost Forgot About You

Georgia Young is a 53-year-old, twice-divorced optometrist living alone in the Oakland Hills of California. Her Friday nights consist of ordering pizza, watching television, and fantasizing about fictional men. She has not had sex in years, and her professional life, though financially stable, leaves her unfulfilled. One evening, a young pizza delivery worker named Free asks her who helps her see clearly. The question lingers.

Days later, a new patient named Cleo Strawberry turns out to be the daughter of Raymond Strawberry, a college friend Georgia secretly loved. Cleo reveals that Ray died five years earlier in a car accident. Devastated, Georgia resolves to track down the men she once loved, to let them know they mattered and to learn if they are alive and well. She decides to sell her house, leave the optometry practice she co-owns with her colleague Lily, and pursue creative work. Her best friend of 35 years, Wanda, is enthusiastic. Another close friend, Violet, a lawyer, dismisses the idea as foolish.

Georgia's first search is for Abraham, the first man who gave her an orgasm. In flashback, she recalls meeting him at a nightclub during college. Abraham was sexually extraordinary but had dropped out of school. Georgia became pregnant, had an abortion, and ended the relationship. She cannot find him online and sets the search aside. She hires a Realtor and a stager named Percy to prepare her house for sale, though Percy's grief over the recent death of his partner delays the process by months.

Georgia's first ex-husband, Michael Mayfield, resurfaces when he moves back to the Bay Area. Over dinner, Michael admits he cheated for the last year and a half of their marriage and sincerely apologizes. Georgia tells him she is grateful for the good years and is working toward forgiving him. The encounter releases much of her long-held anger.

Her younger daughter, Frankie, arrives home from New York University, having dropped out and broken up with her boyfriend Hunter. Soon after, Hunter calls; the supposed pregnancy that triggered the breakup was fabricated. Frankie and Hunter elope in Reno and return as newlyweds. Hunter, who is Black, surprises Georgia, who assumed he was white based on Frankie's previous boyfriends. He impresses Georgia as responsible and supportive, and the couple soon moves into a San Francisco rental.

Georgia's second ex-husband, Niles Boro, a former meteorologist who served prison time for tax evasion, visits her office unannounced. In flashback, Georgia recalls how Niles charmed her as a patient, then proved controlling and emotionally abusive during their eight-year marriage. Niles claims prison taught him he was "an unbearable asshole." They agree to bury the hatchet, though Georgia feels little warmth.

Georgia's older daughter, Estelle, visits with her twin girls, who inadvertently reveal that Estelle and her husband Justin may be losing their home. Meanwhile, Georgia's mother, Earlene, announces she has a fiancé named Grover, a 76-year-old retired pipeline worker. At Earlene's 82nd birthday party, Georgia meets Grover Jr., her soon-to-be stepbrother. She is attracted to him but learns he is married.

Wanda sets Georgia up with Richard Cardoza, a divorce attorney whose initial charm gives way to arrogance. Georgia also begins seeing James Harvey, a cardiologist who soon departs for India on a research grant. Neither connection leads anywhere. The house sale stalls when the only offer falls through. Overwhelmed, Georgia checks into a hotel for three days and cries. Violet, under investigation by the bar for professional misconduct, asks Georgia for a $10,000 loan; Georgia offers $5,000, which Violet angrily rejects, declaring their friendship over.

On New Year's Eve, Georgia searches Facebook and finds several men from her list, including Carter, a retired police chief with a large family, and Oliver, a minister in Chicago. She discovers that Eric Francois, who helped her heal after her first divorce, owns a restaurant she frequents. Georgia writes him a letter, but Eric's wife, Sofia, intercepts it. Sofia promises to pass it along when Eric returns, though the letter is ultimately returned to Georgia unopened.

A turning point arrives when Georgia's neighbor Naomi, whose wife has recently left her, tells Georgia she is "already home." Georgia realizes the house was never the problem; she was. She pulls the For Sale sign from the ground and resolves to stay. She begins spending long hours in her garage, painting and decorating furniture with broken glass, sand, feathers, and mosaics. The creative work fills her with deep satisfaction.

Abraham finally surfaces on Facebook and contacts Georgia. They meet at the Claremont Hotel after 34 years. Abraham, now a horticultural biologist and farmer in Louisiana who fights for Black farmers' rights, is engaged to another woman. Georgia admits she loved him; Abraham says she helped him grow up. They share a single deep kiss, and he leaves.

Violet breaks months of silence to reveal she had a mastectomy and breast reconstruction without telling her friends. Georgia, Wanda, and Violet train together and complete a 39-mile breast cancer walk. Georgia attends her 40th high school reunion, where a former classmate named Bruce Gardner, now a senator, delivers an inspiring speech about how it is never too late to find purpose.

At Georgia's surprise 55th birthday party, organized by Wanda, a white man named Stanley DiStasio appears. Georgia recalls a secret 72-hour affair with Stanley during college, an experience she found extraordinary but fled from because of racial anxieties in the 1970s. Stanley, now a retired astronaut who rebuilds homes in underserved neighborhoods, tells Georgia he fell in love with her 35 years ago. They dance in front of the entire room.

Over an intense weekend, Stanley and Georgia reconnect emotionally and physically. He tours her garage studio, praises her furniture art, and offers to help build her a real one. They share mud baths in Calistoga, a resort town in Napa Valley, and make love for the first time since college. Stanley returns to New York, and they begin talking daily.

Estelle then reveals that Justin is gay and has a boyfriend. Georgia comforts both her daughter and Justin, who arrives at Georgia's door distraught and apologetic. Estelle files for divorce and plans to move to the East Bay with the twins.

Lily returns to the practice after her father's death and tells Georgia she wants to buy Georgia out, returning her full investment. Georgia boards the Coast Starlight, an Amtrak train from Oakland, for a solo journey up the Pacific coast. The ride is less romantic than she imagined, but she observes her fellow passengers with compassion, recognizing that everyone is searching for connection.

When Georgia arrives in Vancouver unable to reach Stanley by phone, she spirals into doubt. Then Stanley appears at the station, having flown from New York because he was worried about her. She tears up her remaining train ticket. They confess their love: Stanley tells her he knew she loved him in college, and Georgia admits she has been waiting 35 years to say it.

In the epilogue, Georgia surveys each character's new chapter. Wanda and her husband, Nelson, move to Palm Desert. Estelle and the twins stay in the Oakland Hills house. Frankie gets a story published and is expecting again. Violet and Richard are living together. Georgia and Stanley are bicoastal, traveling the world. Georgia sells furniture art and works in a studio Stanley renovated for her in West Oakland. She gives free eye exams in Cape Town, South Africa. She does not regret quitting her day job.