Sam is born with ocular albinism, and his mother Madeline declares his red irises a miracle and calls him extraordinary.

Our Lady of Mercy Catholic school denies Sam's admission, citing fears that his red eyes will distract other students.

Madeline persuades her reporter friend Dan to broadcast OLM's rejection on the evening news, forcing Father Brogan to admit Sam to first grade.

Ernie Cantwell befriends Sam at lunch after David Bateman throws a ball at Sam's face and hurls a racial slur at Ernie.

David Bateman destroys Sam's new red Schwinn bicycle with a baseball bat, then beats Sam severely while two other boys hold him.

Father Brogan produces written confessions from two other boys and expels David Bateman from OLM for the assault on Sam.

Mickie Kennedy arrives as a new student at OLM and courageously defends Sam and Ernie after a chaotic school Mass incident.

Sam falls into a relationship with pharmacy employee Donna and has his first sexual encounter with her in a parked car.

Max Hill suffers a stroke on Sam's high school graduation day, ending his ability to work and upending Sam's college plans.

Sam defers his Stanford admission and takes over the family pharmacy while Madeline visits Max daily at a long-term care facility.

Trina Crouch brings her injured daughter Daniela to Sam's ophthalmology clinic, and Sam recognizes the last name Bateman.

Officer David Bateman pulls Sam over after he leaves a bar and assaults him with a billy club, demanding his silence about Daniela.

An earthquake rocks the Bay Area and kills Eva when her car is crushed beneath a collapsed freeway overpass.

David Bateman murders his ex-wife Trina and kills himself before the court hearing, sending Sam into a severe depression.

Sam meets Fernando, an orphaned boy with ocular albinism in Costa Rica, and removes his colored contacts, vowing never to hide his eyes again.

This pool follows the headline events of Sam Hill's life, from his birth with ocular albinism and his mother Madeline's fierce belief in his destiny, through the bullying he endures at a Catholic school and the friendships that sustain him. As Sam grows into adulthood, his father's stroke forces him to sacrifice his college plans and take on adult responsibilities far too soon. The adult storyline in 1989 brings Sam face to face with his childhood tormentor when David Bateman's abused daughter walks into his ophthalmology clinic, setting off a chain of events he cannot control. A devastating earthquake, a murder-suicide, and a decade of exile in Costa Rica follow before Sam finally finds the breakthrough he has been searching for his entire life. Meeting a young boy with the same rare eye condition allows Sam to see his own worth clearly for the first time.

The major turning points of Sam Hill's extraordinary life.

At Sam's first Mass as an infant, a child in the pew behind loudly asks his mother what is wrong with Sam's eyes.

Sam takes his first steps toward his mother's outstretched rosary beads and says 'Mary' as his first word.

The night before his first school day, Sam prays desperately for his eyes to change color by morning, and wakes to find them still red.

Sam eats lunch alone every day during his first week of school and lies to his parents each night about making new friends.

On Valentine's Day, classmate Valerie Johnson sends Sam an envelope containing nothing but a dead fly.

Sam hides from David in a school bathroom stall and accidentally urinates in David's eye during the scuffle that follows.

Sam overhears mechanics make lewd comments about his mother at the gas station and throws away the lollipop they gave him.

Ernie faces transfer to public school after a dyslexia diagnosis, and Sam secretly challenges him to a reading contest to help him improve.

Sam quits the basketball team, becomes school newspaper editor, and wins scholarship money writing sports articles about Ernie's athletic career.

Mickie tells Sam her parents are divorcing, and after a heated argument they reconcile and confess their love for each other for the first time.

Sam and Mickie sleep together at a farewell dinner before she leaves for college; Mickie departs early the next morning without explanation.

Sam calls Eva and hears a man answer her phone, realizing she has been having a long-term affair.

Sam visits a dying Sister Beatrice in the hospital, where she begs his forgiveness for mistreating him throughout his childhood.

Sam arranges a medical flight to take ailing Madeline and Max to the healing springs of Lourdes, France, against doctor's orders.

Madeline dies after returning from Lourdes, Max dies six weeks later, and Sam and Mickie convert the family pharmacy building into a free eye clinic.

This pool captures the smaller but deeply formative experiences that built Sam's inner world, from his earliest encounters with public cruelty as an infant through the painful social isolation of his first school year. The middle portion of his childhood and adolescence reveals the private friendships and heartbreaks that shaped his sense of self-worth, including his complicated feelings for Mickie and his brief, exploitative relationship with Donna. In adulthood, Sam's discovery of Eva's infidelity strips away the last illusion of his hollow relationship, while his trip to the healing springs of Lourdes with his ailing parents marks a profound spiritual shift. The pool ends with the deaths of both parents and the quiet legacy Madeline leaves behind, completing the arc of her lifelong devotion to her son.

The quieter moments that shaped Sam's character and faith.

Sam looks into a mirror for the first time as a young child and sees his red eyes, realizing he looks different from everyone else.

Sam hears the nickname 'Devil Boy' for the first time from Sister Beatrice herself when she explains why OLM denied his admission.

Sam runs back to confess a lie and discovers Sister Beatrice secretly drinking from a hidden flask in the school hallway.

Ernie rings the chapel bells to rescue Sam at the podium; Sam recovers by deliberately saying 'vaginal birth' instead of 'virgin birth,' sending the congregation into laughter.

A departing Sister Beatrice leaves Sam a Bible as a farewell gift, deeply confusing him given the cruelty she showed throughout his schooling.

At the grammar school graduation dance, Sam realizes for the first time that he has genuine romantic feelings for Mickie.

Coach Moran tells Sam he lacks the talent to make the basketball team and steers him toward the school newspaper instead.

Sam drives to Donna's house to apologize and sees Leo Tomaro's car in her driveway, confirming she was using him all along.

Sam returns to the church in anger and extinguishes the altar candle after doctors confirm Max will never fully recover from his stroke.

Mickie confronts Sam about his pattern of failed relationships, telling him he uses his red eyes as an excuse not to believe he deserves better.

Sam is pulled over leaving a bar and discovers his childhood bully David Bateman is now a local police officer.

Sam and Mickie successfully repair Daniela's detached retina, and Sam realizes he has become her protector just as Father Brogan once was for him.

Sam reads a newspaper story revealing that Donna Ashby is going to prison for sexually exploiting a minor.

Sam proposes to Mickie after his parents' deaths; she refuses and vanishes after a conference trip, prompting Sam to pray with his mother's rosary for her return.

Mickie returns and reveals her hysterectomy and infertility; Madeline had secretly arranged Fernando's adoption and paid for all eight years of his Catholic school tuition before her death.

This pool traces the moments of sudden insight, difficult choice, and hidden truth that redirected Sam's life at every stage. Beginning with his first awareness of his own difference and the religious hypocrisy that complicated his faith from childhood, the pool moves through the small acts of courage and connection that slowly built his confidence. In adolescence, Sam's romantic missteps and Mickie's clear-eyed confrontations force him to confront how little he values himself, a wound that follows him into adulthood. The reappearance of David Bateman as a police officer reopens every childhood scar, while Sam's act of healing Daniela's eye offers the first real sense of redemption. The pool closes on the revelations that complete Sam's transformation: Mickie's long-kept secret and the discovery that Madeline had quietly secured their family's future even from her deathbed.