So undone by his traumas, one evening he is sitting out in his backyard with a can of gasoline and a box of matches. But he soon enough realizes there is help for him yet. It comes in many forms: counseling, a support group, an uneasy return to his Catholic faith, and eventually it comes through the love of a woman, Miranda, who is also battling cancer, and the love of a family from whom he's been estranged.