Best Wishes, Harry Greenfield

Harry Greenfield realizes at last that he'll never be leaving the nursing home in which his children have put him. Stubborn and judgmental, he reveals the passions that drive him and the turning points of his life in the letters he writes to family, friends and the world at large. What he omits, out of guilt, we learn from the conversations that take place among his four children and others who are dear to him. In time, the personal histories of other residents of the Star of Zion -- including Vilna, a man whose tragic life has frozen his face so that he will never laugh again; Irving, who dedicated his life to God when he escaped a pogrom in his youth; and George Murphy, a former Catholic priest who teaches Harry that strict religious observance means little if it drives a family apart -- push Harry to try and resolve the long-standing hostilities within his own family before he dies. As the months pass, Harry paints a moving picture of life in the home. His circumstances address our concerns about whether an elderly parent belongs in a nursing home and the quality of life to be expected there. And we see what a man in Harry's position can do in this environment to try and make life worthwhile each day when he knows that the end of the road is near.