John Schram, reporter for the Lancaster Standard Newspaper, husband, and father to two boys, is feeling his age. His paper has hired consultants who seem too young to understand a newsroom and worse yet, have required the installation of low-flow toilets. He's juggling multiple stories and because of layoffs is now tasked with writing a love advice column called Listening with Lily. He feels a little left behind and less astute than he should be with new technology and his fiftieth birthday is coming at him fast and furious. John wonders if he's lost a step to the young reporters in his office.

His seventeen-year-old son is worrying him on the home front, as Justin has lost interest in playing baseball or his grades or college. He's in some fights at school and after several meetings with teachers and guidance counselors, John still has little idea what is troubling the teenager. He does know that the tension and arguments are keeping him, and his wife, awake at night and worried throughout the day. John is at a loss for what to do until a tragic incident brings everything to a head, and his family will never be the same.