His father has died, he doesn't speak for his brother for about 10 years and he has a serious cancer. Diego is a talented film director with difficulty to deal with his sickness, which is making him lose his friends and family slowly. His best friend and doctor, Ricardo, gives him the news that he needs to have a bone marrow transplantation, otherwise he'll die. He gets married to a beautiful woman, Livia, just before going to Seattle to get treatment. There, an enormous staff of doctors start to give him numerous medications and procedures. During treatment, he meets and Hindu boy, with whom he plays pretend and tells amazing stories. Odds are against him and when stakes are the highest, Diego gets a visit from a very Common Man...

At the height of his career, Alexandre decides to set off for Italy with the idea of completing of a book on Borromini. Along with his wife Alienor feels her relationship with Alexandre is gradually slipping away. Along the way they meet siblings Goffredo and Lavinia who are about to embark in architectural studies. A story of rediscover the joys of life and overcoming anxiety.

Young and athletic Sydney Harris finds out that she has six months to live unless she and her husband can come up with the money for her medical treatment. Sounds simple enough; get the money, save her life. But her underpaid, working class husband can't afford the treatment. And time is ticking away. As Sydney begins to seek out a means to save her life, she begins to question her existence and does some soul searching, only to find herself falling in love with a single mom in the neighborhood that Sydney and her family have just moved into. Sydney is then forced to choose between her religious upbringing, her husband and son, and a love that she hides, all while fighting a losing battle to save her own life.

While caring for his sick daughter, a doctor is called away to the sickbed of a neighbor. He finds the neighbor gravely ill, and ignores his wife's pleas to come home and care for his own daughter, who has taken a turn for the worse.

This day really isn't all that different than every other day. Except today, Ned's gay son Jonah wants to go to a college party, his wife is bringing home their elderly father to live with them, and his outrageous boss seems to have become even more crazy and demanding than would even seem possible. As his wife tries to take care of her father reconnect with him, Ned tries to reconnect with Jonah, and then without trying, he seems to have formed a connection with his co-worker. If he can get through days like these, he should be able to get through anything else life throws at him.

In the coast range mountains on the western edge of the Salinas Valley is a ranch where Tom, a lad of about ten, longs for a pony. He lives with his mom, who was born there, her dad, a talkative pioneer who misses the old West, Tom's dad Fred Tiflin, who comes from the city and after years on the ranch doesn't feel at home there, and Billy, their trusted hand, a real cowboy. While Fred has to sort out whether he wants to stay a rancher and come to terms with his son being closer to Billy than to himself, Tom gets a pony and learns directly about responsibility and loss. What lessons can each learn, and are tragedy and hard choices all that life offers? Are laughter and joy anywhere?