- You're awful quiet tonight.
- Just thinking.
Yeah, you're right.
About what?
About what you were thinking.
Jonathan, I wasn't thinking
about anything to be right about.
I was just thinking, you know?
I mean, you don't know everything.
- Then what were you thinking about?
- All right, you're so smart, you tell me.
Old radio shows.
All right, so I was thinking
about old radio shows.
What's the big deal in that?
If you're gonna get mad about it,
let's forget it.
I'm not mad.
And I do not wanna forget about it.
I was thinking about old radio shows.
How I used to listen to them
when I was a kid.
You know, The Shadow,
Fibber McGee and Molly,
- The Masked Rider, and how they--
- Yeah, it was.
It really was.
There you go again. It was what?
It was fun to use your imagination
on the radio, it was fun.
All right, all right, so you got that.
Jonathan,
will you do me one favour?
If you are gonna read my mind,
will you wait at least until I finish a
thought before jumping ahead of me?
Fine, I'm sorry.
You better slow down.
Why? I'm not going too fast.
But we're gonna have to stop soon,
and I know how you hate it
when I do that for you.
Jonathan, I was a cop.
I was a cop, I have perfect night vision,
instant reflexes.
I was going to stop.
I really hate it when you do that.
Rotten.
- Hey, you need--?
- You watch the way you're driving.
The way you were barrelling
down this road,
I'm lucky you saw me.
Yeah. Give you a hand there,
mister?
Doctor.
You want us to get a doctor?
No, you blamed fool, I'm a doctor.
I'm not a mister.
I have an emergency at a farmhouse
down the road here.
I'd appreciate a lift.
Yeah, sure. Hop in.
Probably I'm taking my life
in my hands, but it beats walking.
- What happened back there?
- Car crashed, or didn't you see it?
Yeah, I saw it.
Couldn't tell by the way
you were driving.
- How'd it happen?
- How'd it happen?
I'll tell you how it happened.
I'm too old to be driving around
at night, that's how it happened.
Couldn't see.
Age is my excuse, what's yours?
Probably yapping away
or listening to punk-rock music.
My name is Doc Hudsbeth.
What's yours?
Mark Gordon.
Keep your eye on the road, son.
One crash a night's about my limit.
Used to know an old lady named
Fiona Gordon, you any relation?
- No, I'm from--
- She's the only one with that name
that lived around here.
Nice old lady.
How about you?
Smith. Jonathan Smith.
I'm not from around here either.
Just passing through, eh?
Well, you don't look like criminals.
If you're looking for work,
it's worth bucks and food to me
if you'd drive me around
the rest of the night.
Got some calls to make.
What do you say?
- Well--
- Sounds good to me.
The first farmhouse on the right.
And slow down, for Pete's sake.
There's a dip.
- Thanks for coming out here, doc.
- Don't thank me till you see my bill.
These fellas
are my two new drivers, Maggie.
Pay them no mind.
Come on, boys, follow me,
you may learn something.
How bad has he been wheezing?
Awful bad, doc.
It just came on all of a sudden.
Poor guy,
I don't know what to do for him.
Well, the first thing you can do
is look less scared.
Little boy sees his mama
looking like that,
figures he must be real sick.
He doesn't have any infection
and it's not pneumonia.
I'm gonna give him some
epinephrine.
And, Maggie,
I want you to get a sheet
and these two fellas here
are gonna help you rig up a tent
right here on Robbie's bed.
Now, Robbie,
roll over on your other side.
All right, now, Robbie,
I'm gonna give you a sh*t.
This is a little sh*t,
it's gonna hurt a little,
but the instant you feel the hurt,
the worst is over. Okay?
That's it, the worst is over.
Everything is downhill from here.
It's gonna make your heart go a little
fast, but that's nothing to worry about.
And if you feel like crying,
you go right ahead and cry
because most folks do
when they get this sh*t.
- I've got the sheet.
- All right.
Oh, that's the little one.
She's feeling poorly too.
Well, let's look in on her too.
Now would you fellas build a tent
right here on Robbie's bed?
Put the vaporiser inside the tent,
all the steam should be inside the tent.
I want a London fog.
Now, Maggie, you have
that other vaporiser I gave you?
Yes.
Give it to Mark here
and we'll get that one going too.
I want a London fog in this tent.
- Thanks for all your help, mister.
- He kept asking for his dad.
Something about he promised
to make him a spaceship.
I know.
His father was drowned
in a fishing accident
about three months ago.
I'm sorry.
Yeah, they never found his body
and Robbie just won't accept the fact
he's gone.
How far apart are they, Gloria?
All right.
Now, where's Cleavon?
Okay, Gloria, be calm.
I'll be right there
and we'll take you to the hospital.
No, no, no, don't you worry.
That baby won't dare poke his head
out till I get there.
Okay? Bye.
Okay, let's go.
Doc,
I don't have any money to pay you.
You don't, eh?
Well, I guess you'll have to make me
one of those pies.
I don't work for nothing, you know.
Thanks, doc.
Call me first thing in the morning,
Maggie.
Let me know how he's doing.
Doc, you all right?
Doc?
Of course I'm all right.
I'm not having the baby, she is.
There, now you're doing it.
That's it, Gloria, now you're doing it.
Now ease up, ease up.
Ease up. There.
I told you this fella wouldn't come
down the pike till I got here.
- Are we going to the hospital, doc?
- Not tonight.
We're gonna do this the same way
your great-grandmother did it.
- Wouldn't it be safer in the hospital?
- Gloria.
You can have your baby here
or in this fella's car.
Take your pick.
I thought by now,
Cleavon would be back.
I tried to reach him. He's on duty.
They got a big fire
over in Harley County
and they got paramedics
from three counties down there.
Well, we'll have to have a surprise
for him when he gets home.
Mark, prop her up.
- That's it.
- Easy does it. Easy does it.
Come on, a little more.
Okay? All right.
Lean back.
That's a good one, missy.
Now, Gloria,
you get one more like that,
I want you to bear down
and help this little fella.
Doc,
you're the one
that needs to get to a hospital.
Have either one of you fellas
delivered a baby before?
I was a cop. I've done it twice.
Well, tonight's gonna make
three times.
I gotta get him to a hospital.
I'm gonna use the stuff
to get him there.
- You go ahead.
- Go ahead? I don't even know you.
Lady, before the night's out,
we're gonna be on a first-name basis.
Heaven help me.
Yeah, you got that right.
All right, Gloria, push down,
push down.
Come on.
The baby needs your help.
Here it comes again.
Gloria, push down. Come on.
I can't push. It hurts.
Come on, Gloria, push.
Boy, I'm gonna need some help
with this one.
You? What about me?
Come on, Gloria, push down.
Come on.
Come on, you can do it.
Where am I?
Harley County General.
- I gotta get back to my patient.
- Be quiet, doc.
Don't you tell me to be quiet.
I brought you into this world,
and I'll take you out of it. Sassing me.
Dr. Hudsbeth, you are my patient
and you will kindly shut up.
Now, you haven't had a heart att*ck.
Of course not.
If I passed out,
it was from arrhythmia.
Well, that's exactly what happened.
But you need rest
and you need to be quiet.
I was practising medicine for years
when you were still playing jacks.
Now don't aggravate me.
I'm a sick man.
Just hand me a phone
so I can call my patient.
All right.
You are the stubbornest old man
that ever lived.
Here.
Turn over,
I wanna see your best side.
Push down, Gloria.
Come on, push down.
Good. Good effort. Outstanding.
I better get that,
they may have reached your husband.
Don't mind me, just make yourself
at home, you know?
Hello.
Yeah. Just a minute.
It's for you.
Hello.
What?
Oh, yeah, they're real close together
now, doc.
Here comes another one.
- Push. Push.
- What?
I said, push!
Push!
Come on, Gloria, bear down.
Bear down.
That's it! That's it! I can see him.
Come on, darling. Push.
Help that child.
Help him, Gloria.
Come on. Come on.
That's the first one I've ever done
long distance.
Here we go.
- Well, we did it.
- We sure did.
I'm gonna name you, little baby,
after the man who made your birth
possible.
You're gonna call him Mark?
Alexander Graham Bell Johnson.
- I don't need this wheelchair.
- It's hospital policy and you know it.
You talk pretty big for an intern.
Well, I had this strict teacher
when I was a little boy
who taught me with the end
of a hickory switch
when I stole some melons.
You're not too big for me
to take that switch to you again.
See if you fellas can keep him off
his feet as much as possible.
He should have been in here
for more than three days as it is.
These fellas aren't gonna keep me
from a thing.
They're nothing but itinerants,
probably escaped convicts.
Probably the biggest mistake I made
was to hire them to drive me around.
Well, I felt sorry for them.
- Doc, your driving days are through.
- I know, I know.
But I have to see these patients.
And they're too poor to drive
miles down to this fancy hospital
just to see a smart-aleck young intern
like you.
Now if you were to consider
coming back home
and being a simple country doctor,
it would take a load off me.
Doc, you're one of a kind.
The rest of us can't afford
to take payments
in baskets of fruit and cornbread.
- I'll go get the car.
- Okay.
Doc, I wanna thank you
for everything.
There's no need to thank me
for a thing.
He's the reason
I went to med school.
Cornbread and fruit.
A mighty fine diet,
high in fibre content.
Probably a darn sight healthier
than what you're eating now.
I wanna see you back here in two days
for some more tests.
All right, all right.
Because I feel sorry for you,
I'll let you have the body of an old man
to experiment on.
I'll drop that medicine off
to Robbie's mom.
- Thank you, Jonathan.
- You bet.
What are we doing here?
What do you think we're doing here?
It's my office, you fool.
Well, it says "market."
You can read, but you can't drive.
- Morning, Minnie.
- Oh, morning, doc.
- Hear you've been feeling poorly.
- You heard wrong.
Oh, good.
Well, when you have some time,
my bunions have been acting up again.
Let me deal with the little emergencies
first, Minnie,
and then we'll get to
the life-threatening ones like yours.
This fella's with me.
He's a brain surgeon.
Well, how we doing, Gloria?
And how's little Alexander?
- That is what you call him?
- He's doing fine.
He's no trouble at all.
Mark Gordon. My husband, Cleavon.
- How you doing?
- Oh, good.
Look at this young man,
all puffed up
because he got him a son
first sh*t out of the gate.
You know, I wanna thank you both
for what you did.
Here. I made two of these,
one for each of you.
Oh, sweet-potato pie.
And we don't have to report this
to the infernal Revenue Service.
How's the job going?
It's not going, it's gone.
What are you talking about?
You're the best paramedic
they've got.
Hell, you should be.
I taught you everything you know.
The county instituted some cutbacks
and I was new on the job.
That's a damn shame.
What are you gonna do?
Well,
I'm gonna stop dreaming
about med school, that's for sure.
You know you can't do that.
That's what you love, you know it.
No way to save any money
on an orderly salary.
Orderly?
Hey, doc, you gotta take
what you can get.
Yeah, well,
let's go on inside
and have a look at the little fella.
It was nice to meet you.
Thanks again.
Hey, I'm glad I could help.
Oh, boy.
I shouldn't, but I will.
Thanks for bringing the medicine
out here.
Oh, it's my pleasure.
Shouldn't have gone
to all this trouble.
No trouble at all. You take care.
- Hey, how you doing, Robbie?
- Hi.
- How you feeling today? Little better?
- I guess.
Kind of hard,
giving up on a sickness, isn't it?
What do you mean?
Well, I know when I was little
it used to be kind of fun to be sick.
I mean, after you're over being
real sick and you're just a little bit sick,
everybody pays attention to you
and real nice to you.
My dad always reads me stories
whenever I'm sick.
Oh, yeah, that's fun.
You know, I remember one time
when I was a kid,
I wanted attention so bad
I actually made myself sick.
And I'm not kidding you,
I ran a fever and everything.
If my dad knew I was sick,
I figured he'd get here.
But he just didn't know, I guess,
or else he would have come.
He would have.
Somebody should have called him.
Yeah, only if they knew his number.
You know, Robbie, the only time
people can know what's going on
with the ones they love
when they're far, far away
and there's no phones or letters
or anything is when they're in heaven.
My daddy ain't in heaven,
because my daddy ain't dead.
Maybe he's living with pirates
or something.
My daddy wouldn't have gone off
and d*ed
without keeping his promise to me
about that spaceship.
My daddy never broke
a promise to me ever. Ever.
So he ain't dead.
Hey, Minnie.
Why, Charlie Sims, look at you.
I mean, Dr. Sims.
Hey, is the doc through seeing patients
for the day?
Well, I reckon.
He's in there cleaning up.
Maybe I'll just poke my head in
and say hello.
Hi, Mark.
Doc in there?
Yeah, you want some of this
sweet-potato pie? It's really good.
No, no, I'll just say hello to doc
for a second.
Unless you're dying,
come back tomorrow.
- It's me, doc, can I come in?
- Sure, why not.
Minnie, what are you doing?
I'm eavesdropping.
What does it look like?
You know, for a brain surgeon,
you're pretty slow on the uptake.
You shouldn't be doing that.
Now you listen to me.
Charlie Sims wouldn't come
all the way here to see doc
if he didn't have
some very important news.
The problem isn't just one thing,
doc.
It's all the things together.
The problem is,
you got a very old heart.
It's a weak muscle,
it's not going to get any stronger.
You need a rest
and now's the time to take it.
Rest?
All I own in the world is a little piece
of land with a fat mortgage.
Why do you think I work so hard?
You've had that place for years.
It has to be paid for by now.
And how do you think I've kept
body and soul together for years?
By refinancing that place.
I now owe more on it
than when I bought it.
That place is all I have in the world
and I owe a hundred thousand bucks
on it.
If I quit working,
where am I gonna live?
Doc, if you don't give up
your practise,
you won't have to worry
about where you'll live.
The only piece of land you'll need
will be feet deep.
And we both know that's true,
don't we?
Don't we?
Oh, Jonathan,
thank goodness you're back.
Look, I gotta talk fast
before the doc comes out.
- I know.
- Jonathan, it's about the doc. He-
- Mark, I just told you, I know.
- Mark,
can you help me with some of these
boxes out here?
Oh, yeah, sure. I guess.
It's all right, I'll take the doc home
and I'll meet you later.
It just doesn't seem fair.
He's given the people his whole life
and he can't even afford to retire.
Mark!
The master's voice.
You feel like a cup of coffee?
- Sure, if you'd like me to come in.
- Fine.
I hope you like your coffee
with chicory.
That's how I drink it.
That's the way my mother made it.
Hot and strong,
keeps you regular.
You can raise the dead
with this stuff.
That's good.
I see you were looking
at the collection.
And quite a collection it is.
And what about you, doc?
You have a family?
Nope.
Never had a family of my own.
Never seemed to have time.
You know, I must have brought
over a thousand babies into the world.
I wouldn't mind having
a little grandchild of my own
to bounce on my knee,
make funny faces at.
Well, I guess it's too late
to do anything about that now.
It's too late for everything,
except dying.
Not if you slow down.
That's what young Charlie said.
He knows his medicine.
But he has a little bit more to learn
about people.
You know, doc,
I'm just passing through.
So if you wanna talk, I can listen.
It won't go any further.
It better not.
You better keep a tight lip
on what I'm saying, you hear?
I've heard about your hickory stick.
I wouldn't dream of crossing you.
What's gonna happen to them
without me, Jonathan?
Town without a doctor,
it falls apart, dies.
Young people don't wanna stay here,
and why should they?
The nearest one
is in the EmergencyWard
at Harley County General.
And that's miles away
for most folks,
for some,
and they don't take them
sweet-potato pies for payment.
I was praying I could keep going
till Cleavon finished his internship,
but that's all over now.
Where are they gonna go,
Jonathan?
What are they gonna do?
- Question is, what are you gonna do?
- About what?
About what Dr. Sims told you.
About slowing down.
Oh, I've gotta keep working
to keep a roof over my head.
Now, that's the only reason, huh?
Well...
They're not just my patients,
Jonathan,
they're my family.
And they don't have anybody
but me.
The way things look,
I won't be here very long.
You ever think
about finding a replacement?
Where?
Well, Harley County General
is a teaching hospital.
Maybe there's a country doctor
in that graduating class.
Not a chance.
All the young'uns today
wanna be specialists.
Well, maybe.
But you can't be sure unless you try.
There you go.
- That's all of them, I hope.
- Yeah.
I'm sorry, I had no idea
there was so much back there.
Of course you didn't.
That's a sad thing about old doc.
The poor guy's just working himself
to death trying to pay off his mortgage.
Well, why don't you do something
to try to help?
- Like what?
- From all the pictures in doc's office,
I'd say he's delivered hundreds
of babies in his life.
Well, I know that.
Well, the way I figure it,
the man has been giving to people
around here for almost years.
About time he got something back.
Let them know he's in trouble,
that he needs help.
Thought that's what country folks
are all about.
Yeah.
Yeah, you're right.
I'm the mail carrier in this county.
And I could slip letters in everybody's
mailbox asking them to pitch in.
Now you're talking, Minnie.
Would you help me with the letter?
You got it.
Morning, Minnie.
You didn't have to bring the mail
all the way up to the door.
Yeah, I know that, Harold.
I hear your business
is doing real well.
- It couldn't be better.
- Well, I'm glad to hear it.
- I need to talk to you.
- Well, I'm kind of busy, actually.
This won't take long.
It's about Dr. Hudsbeth.
Yes, I would be more comfortable
talking inside.
Yeah, come on,
nice of you to ask me.
Floyd, this is Jonathan Smith,
a friend of mine.
Jonathan, this is Doc Gleason.
- Pleasure to meet you.
- Pleased to meet you.
How you doing, Will?
Well, I'm ambulating.
How's yourself?
Just wrapping things up here
so I can retire.
I've put in my time
with administrative headaches.
Well, I've got them all assembled
and waiting for you.
Shall we give it a go?
Might as well.
- Good luck.
- Thank you.
You see,
little guys like me,
we're not just doctors.
I believe that at times, we're healers.
We don't do heart transplants,
we do bunions
and babies and broken limbs.
We bring a lot of folks into this world
and we bury some.
And though it may not be
the strictly kosher,
medically-detached way
of looking at things,
we cry with our friends
because that's what they are,
as well as patients.
And we laugh with them too.
It may be that,
like the small family farmer,
we're a dying breed.
It may be that our time has passed.
And if that's true,
this whole country
will be the poorer for it.
I'm hoping that one of you doctors
will leave the transplants
and the plastic surgery and the like
to somebody else,
leave all that
and be a small-town family doctor.
It's long hours and it's low pay.
But it's life.
It's right smack down
in the middle of it.
And the closer I get
to leaving it all behind,
the sweeter it looks.
IV nurse, West, stat.
IV nurse, West, stat.
Hey, excuse me.
Aren't you Cleavon Johnson,
Gloria's husband?
- Yeah. Do I know you?
- I'm Jonathan Smith.
- Oh, Mark's friend.
- Right.
- How are you?
- I'm fine.
Mark told me about you being laid off
your paramedic job.
Yeah. Well,
you know, I used to dream
of going to med school here.
Guess I'll have to be satisfied
with just emptying bedpans.
- I'm really sorry.
- Yeah, me too. Me too.
But I'll survive, God willing.
Guess I better get back to work.
- Tell Mark I said hi, okay?
- Will do it.
- Take care.
- You too.
That's the way of looking at things
because that's what they are.
- Is the doc having any luck in there?
- No.
I think he's switched to his preacher
mode now, trying to find a convert.
But is he getting anybody
to answer the call?
Afraid not.
But I can't blame them.
You know,
it's hard for a young person
to weigh financial security
in the balance
with the chance to practise medicine
the way my father did.
The way Will did all these years.
Yeah, you mean dealing with people
instead of budgets and paperwork?
Yeah.
My father was a country doctor.
That's why I went into medicine.
I used to tag along with him
when he made house calls.
The way people looked at my dad
with such love.
And he loved them,
loved his work, loved- Loved healing.
I take it they don't look
at hospital administrators that way?
They look at me
like I'm from the IRS.
Let me ask you, doc, what are you
gonna do now that you're retiring?
I'm not sure, really.
Thing is, I don't feel old. But
county policy, mandatory retirement.
- Ain't that a crock?
- Yeah.
Dr. Gleason, when's the last time
you had some really good cornbread?
Cornbread?
I'm not talking about store-bought.
I'm talking about the real McCoy
like your aunt Clara used to make.
Now how did you know
I had an Aunt Clara?
Come on, doesn't everybody?
Now, how long has it been?
It's been a long time.
Well, doc, I think it's time
we did something about that.
Well, I hope there aren't too many
sick farmers this morning.
I gotta head out to the hospital,
see if there are any takers
among Floyd's
new crop of doctors.
- But I doubt it.
- You never know.
Oh, Mark, I've gotta stop at the bank.
They called last night
and made an appointment.
- Trouble?
- No.
Just a few days late with your payment
and they get their bowels in an uproar.
That's why they all live
on antacid pills.
Ed, gotta make this quick
because I have a busy schedule today.
I know I'm late, but you'll get
your payment by next Wednesday.
Well, I'm sorry, doc,
but next Wednesday is too late.
What?
Some papers here for you to sign.
I can't believe
you're gonna do this to me.
Just because I'm a few days late.
- Well, business is business, doc.
- Oh, really?
Well, let me tell you something
about being late.
When your mama was carrying you,
she was two weeks late
and I never gave up on her.
I was at her place every day
during those two weeks.
Just sign at the bottom.
You know, Ed,
in all my years of delivering babies,
you're the only one I regret.
What is this?
What is this?
This says--
Paid in full?
Surprise!
For he's a jolly good fellow
For he's a jolly good fellow
For he's a jolly good fellow
That nobody can deny
Doc.
Doc, there isn't a person for miles
around in any direction
that doesn't owe you,
and some of them even owe you
their lives.
And, well, everybody knows
that you could have done much better
for yourself in a big city
or something and, well,
we figured that it was time
that you got more out of this
than just baked goods.
So we--
Doc, what this poor, unfortunate,
tongue-tied soul is trying to say
is that we love you
and this is just a tangible way
of saying those three words.
We love you, doc.
What is this thing?
It's a cheque, doc, for enough money
to pay off your mortgage.
So you can take it easy, doc.
You can stop working
and take it easy.
Stop working?
Well, who's gonna take care of you
if I do?
Who's gonna tend your bunions
or set your bones
or deliver your babies if I quit?
I won't take this cheque.
I won't have it.
- Doc, we only meant--
- I know what you meant.
That I'm some kind of charity case,
too feeble to be of any use
to anyone,
so you're going to ease me
into golden retirement
when there's gotta be somebody
to take care of you.
There is, Will.
Will, for years,
every once in a while, I'd envy you.
I retire in a month.
I've been everything
but a country doctor in my career,
I'd like to give it a try.
You've envied me?
Take a look around, Will.
Take a look at the faces
of the people in this room.
What man wouldn't envy
the kind of love
so many people have for you?
You wanna lance boils
on somebody's backside
in the backroom of a market,
Floyd?
I must say, your friend Jonathan
made a mighty persuasive argument
the other day.
How about it?
Yeah, sure.
But...
But what?
Well, you're an old duffer
yourself, Floyd.
I was kind of hoping we'd get
some young fella or some young gal
who could stick around a while.
Before you know it,
you would be feeble-minded
or dead yourself.
Tact was never your strong suit,
Will.
What are you getting at?
What I'm getting at is this:
Half of this money
would be enough to make
my payments for the rest of my life.
So if
you would give me
just a few minutes,
I'd like to talk over something
with you.
- You all right, doc?
- Of course I'm all right.
Just keep your eyes on the road.
Hi, what brings you all out here?
Oh, we just wanted to talk
with Cleavon.
He's out back.
- Is something wrong?
- Not a thing.
- Afternoon, Cleavon.
- Oh, hi.
What are you doing out here?
Well, Cleavon,
I got some bad news for you.
They just told me down at the hospital
they can't keep you on in that job.
That's just great.
Did they say why?
Well, it has to do with some silly rule
about it interfering with your work
in med school or something.
What are you talking about?
Cleavon,
it gives me great pleasure
to inform you
that you have been awarded
the first William F. Hudsbeth
Pre-memorial Scholarship
that will cover the full tuition
at med school.
Doc, is this a joke?
Does it sound like
my sense of humour?
- Full tuition?
- You heard right.
Cleavon.
But I mean, it just won't work.
I still have to have a job.
What are you talking about?
I'll get a job.
What about the baby?
I'll take care of the little fella.
I know a thing or two about babies.
I got nothing else to do.
And if we're lucky, old Floyd
will ward off feeble-mindedness
till you get out of school.
That is, if you still wanna be
a country doctor.
Doc,
I don't know what to say.
If you don't wanna feel
the business end of a hickory switch,
say yes.
Yes.
Yes.
I'll get it,
you just finish that arithmetic.
- Hi.
- Hi, come on in.
Oh, thanks.
We were just on our way
out of town
and we thought we'd stop
and say goodbye.
Well, that's mighty nice of you.
Can I get you a cup of coffee?
Oh, no, thanks. We gotta be going.
We got another job waiting for us.
Minnie asked if we could drop off
this package and letter.
She said she was sorry. She should
have delivered it a long time ago.
Yes. It probably got misplaced
or something.
Minnie would misplace her head
if it wasn't stuck on.
Maggie,
the letter's from your husband.
He must've mailed it
before the accident.
A letter from my daddy?
- See, Mama, see? I told you.
- Robbie, it's not-
My hand is just
shaking like a leaf.
Would you read it?
"Dear Maggie, Robbie
and baby Rachel,
it's nighttime now.
There was the most beautiful sunset
I've ever seen
and I just wanted to get this letter off
before we go fishing tomorrow.
I've never seen a day end
with so much peace and beauty
all around.
It made me think what a lucky guy
I am to have all of you.
If I never knew another day
on God's good earth,
I could say I've had it all
because of loving you, Maggie,
and because of you, sweet boy,
and your baby sister.
I guess you have to get away
from things sometimes
in order to see them more clearly.
I feel so at peace tonight,
holding all of you here in my heart
and though I'm a long way away,
I've never felt closer to you.
I hope you can feel me
with you there now.
You be a good boy, Robbie,
and take care of Mom
and your baby sister
while Daddy's gone.
I love you all.
P.S., Robbie, I'm sending you
something just to keep my record clear
about never breaking a promise
to you.
Love, Daddy."
Here you go.
My daddy didn't send this
before any accident.
You know what I think?
I think my daddy found a way
to send something from heaven.
What do you think, Mr. Smith?
Maybe you're right, son.
Maybe you're right.
I've gotta go take care
of my mom now, like my dad said.