SYNOPSIS

Nineteen-year-old Lisa Bishop is itching to leave the small town she grew up in.  She and her boyfriend are packed and ready to drive away from Three Rivers for good.  But first Lisa stops to see the grandmother who raised her, Elizabeth Leroy Bishop, for money.  Elizabeth wants to talk Lisa out of making a hasty move.  She’s willing to give Lisa the money, as promised, but first the young woman will have to sit patiently as her grandmother tells the story of her life.

Elizabeth also grew up in Three Rivers.  The place was even more boring, Elizabeth insists, in the early 1950s.   Elizabeth, the daughter of the town doctor, also had plans of leaving town one day to pursue a more adventurous life.  Young Elizabeth’s best friend is Frances, who gently prods Elizabeth into taking a greater interest in men, such as next-door neighbor Will Bishop, who clearly is in love with her.  But Elizabeth hasn’t the slightest interest in the opposite sex, until she is sent on an errand to greet the new associate minister at the railroad station.  Ben Phillips is a dreamboat! And there are immediate and undeniable sparks between them when they meet.  Elizabeth shows Ben around town, what little there is to show, that is.  And after some slow-moving, old-fashioned courting, they become an item.

Will Bishop, who has loved Elizabeth for years, finally works up the courage to propose marriage, but he is too late.  Elizabeth, who thinks of Will only as a dear friend, is already madly in love with Ben.  In fact, marriage seems to be in the immediate future for Ben and Elizabeth, but those plans must be put on hold because Ben has committed to serving as a military chaplain in Korea.  He promises Elizabeth they’ll marry as soon as he’s back.  Elizabeth, of course, is both elated and heartbroken.  But Ben’s farewell sermon – in which he tells the congregation that, “if your belief is strong enough, no challenge will be insurmountable” – gives her the strength to endure the time apart.  As Ben leaves, he assures her he will be far away “only in miles, not in my heart.”

Afterward, one tragedy after another soon befalls Elizabeth.  Her father, one of the most beloved men in town, dies suddenly.  Then Elizabeth learns that, although he was rich in spirit, her father was cash poor.  Even the house in which they lived is heavily mortgaged and will be sold, leaving her no place to live.  That’s when Will comes through with a gracious offer:  Even though she broke his heart by declining his proposal, he offers to let her stay in his home.  He even gives her a secretary job at his insurance company.  Elizabeth’s friend Frances, meanwhile, has bad news of her own:  Her husband - a soldier who came back from Korea a sullen, broken man – has left her.  And then comes the most difficult news of all:  Ben has been killed in battle overseas.

Elizabeth finds the strength to carry on, however.  In part because of the inner faith that  

Ben instilled in her.  In part because of the continued kindness shown to her by Will Bishop.  In fact, Elizabeth begins to see Will in a different light; she’s even jealous when he dates another woman.  But when Will admits that no other woman could replace his feelings for Elizabeth, he proposes again.  And this time, she says yes.  They are married.

Elizabeth’s life seems to have made a turn for the better in every way.  Then comes the news that Ben wasn’t killed in Korea.  He was captured by the enemy, was held as a prisoner of war for more than a year and now is coming home.  Elizabeth finds herself in the unenviable situation of telling her first love that she married another.  Ben is heartbroken, but not bitter.  Will, who was selflessly willing to step aside if she wanted to be with Ben, is relieved and elated that Elizabeth chooses to stay with him.

During the years that follow, Elizabeth and Will have a son, who is killed in a car accident while still a young husband and father.  Elizabeth’s daughter-in-law dies in the accident too.  So in addition to raising her granddaughter Lisa, Elizabeth becomes involved in social work at the local hospital and cares for Will as he suffers with Alzheimer’s disease throughout the 1990s.  In 2002, Will dies, making Elizabeth a widow.

Having heard this story, Lisa sees her grandmother in a different light.  The young woman leaves for her new life in California, as planned, but there’s a warmth and bond that wasn’t there before.  Meanwhile, Frances has planned a surprise party for Elizabeth.  All of those who have gathered are the people whose lives were touched by Elizabeth, even a paralyzed young man whom she had encouraged during her hospital social-work days.  Lisa is there too.  She has decided not to run off with her boyfriend after all.  It’s all very gratifying, very satisfying for Elizabeth.  Then comes the best surprise of them all:  Ben is there, still handsome, still in love.  “Ben, you came all this way?”  “It was only far in miles,” he answers.  “Not in my heart.”  They are together at last.

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