Olivia Lupo arrives at Elkins Village, a long-term care facility, for her regular visit with her grandmother Annette “Annie” Lupo, who has dementia and lives in the Finlay House memory care unit. A nurse named Tara tells Olivia that Annie has had an uneventful day after a restless night. Annie recognizes Olivia but believes that weeks have passed since their last visit, though it has only been two days. Olivia plays along, recalling a recent visit when Annie mistook her for a stranger. Olivia has deferred her admission to Northwestern for a year to work at a bookstore and be near Annie, whose dementia first became apparent after her husband died.

During Olivia’s visit, Annie’s memory lapses are evident: She claims to have just bought the tulips that Olivia brought her days ago. While they look through an album labeled “She’s Too Young to be Seventy!” with photos from Annie’s surprise 70th birthday party (6), Annie corrects Olivia’s nail biting and reminisces about Olivia’s father, Chris Lupo, doing the same. The visit ends when Annie rediscovers the tulips with fresh surprise, as though seeing them for the first time, leaving Olivia to wonder whether her gap year has given her a way to help her grandmother or only a closer view of what can’t be helped.