St. Louis-based banker Roger Hobbs dictates a letter to his wife, Peggy, about his true feelings concerning their just completed month-long vacation. The letter is to be opened only after his death, whenever that may occur. He wanted the vacation to be a romantic getaway for two, but Peggy insisted on a family vacation to a central California beach house that was loaned to them for the month by friends. The vacation included all their offspring as well as the extended families of their offspring. Roger hated the idea as he felt he didn't know his offspring, much less their spouses, and that they no longer needed him; his daughter Susan and her husband, Stan Carver, have a permissive parenting style based on the latest child psychology books; daughter Janie's college-professor husband, Byron Grant, has an academic view of everything in life; fourteen year old daughter Katey is self-conscious around boys because of her brand-new braces, but the boys see her self-consciousness as aloofness; and preteen son Danny's sole focus in life is watching TV. The beach house ended up being a rat trap which disgusted their cook, Brenda, so much that she left early. But, beyond that, Roger ended up learning the true nature of his relationship with his offspring and his wife. In the process, he had to endure the extended visit by an eccentric couple, the Turners, and learned that some problems can be solved purely by yelling "Hey, Joe!" into an unknown group of boys.—Huggo / edited by Hans Delbruck