When Herr Walter Schmidt wakes up one morning and doesn't smell coffee, he suspects his wife, Barbara, must have died in her sleep. It turns out she's taken seriously ill and, for the first time in his long life, Walter must take care of someone else. Unable to accept the fact that Barbara might be dying, Walter tries to maintain normalcy in his upside-down world. With dark humor and true compassion Alina Bronsky has written an insightful story of late-in-life transformation, human connections, and living each day to its fullest.