Travelling light

Résumé

When Summer's promising future as a dancer is ended by injury, she settles reluctantly into an unwanted career as a school teacher. Her long-term relationship with Nicholas becomes strained as she surrenders an idealistic future into his hands. And her beloved brother Todd may have no future - he is HIV positive.

The tranquil suburbs of Mid-West America become a waiting room for Summer as each difficult day beckons the inevitable. As the virus reaches critical mass in Todd's cells, and full blown AIDS manifests itself, Summer has to come to terms with life, death, relationships and her father's enigmatic injunction to "travel light". Watching her brother share a world with his partner, Summer observes the purest form of love, a love transcending the frailties of humanity and the inconsistencies of life. Through the wise perceptions of her brother, she teaches her own pupils lessons vaster than education can confine.

But it is the fulfillment of a promise that Summer made to her brother as a child that forces for to face up to her greatest challenge. Ignited by death, Summer begins to realize the value of life.