In 1914, ten year old Elizabeth endures the tragic loss of her young, beautiful mother who dies in childbirth. Despite her tragic loss, Elizabeth grows up a proper and independent young woman who, in the 1920s, becomes a highly respected school teacher. However, she struggles for years with anger at her Papa for the loss of her Mother and anger at God, who she ultimately blames for yet another tragic loss in her life, and whom she feels she can t trust. As the world changes around her - with the country facing the Great Depression and the Second World War - the story brings you through her loss, her struggle with forgiveness, and ultimately, how she learns that tears don t always have to be shed with pain. That tears can be shed with that special joy that God, through His grace and mercy, is waiting patiently to give and desires for us all.