In this film based on a true event, Shrader, her mother, and her two younger sisters live with their chins just above the water. Responsibility has befallen the eldest daughter: the bills don't get paid without her, and her mother believes negligence fosters self-reliance. Taking care of home and hearth with the help of her best friend Billy, she has one shining beacon in the life of working the night shift at a diner and living paycheck to paycheck: Vince. He gives Shrader the sense of hope and love she does not get from her home life. We follow Shrader through a day in the life--one that will ultimately become the hardest thing she will ever have to live through, and will stay with her forever.