Seeing her beloved grandfather making a mean face while he rehearses for one of his plays, Tamika becomes afraid that someday she will lose his love and he will make that mean face at her.
A little boy remembers his grandmother before she became ill, and during her long recovery he tries to imagine how things will be when she comes home from the hospital.
Although the young cousins live many miles apart, Leanna in Chicago and Elizabeth in Washington, D.C., both prepare for an Easter parade against the backdrop of the Second World War.