Lynnie, a woman with a developmental disability and limited speech who has fallen in love with deaf resident Homan while living at the Pennsylvania State School for the Incurable and Feebleminded, escapes with Homan and finds refuge in the home of widow Martha, and, before the authorities come to take her back to the school, Lynnie gives birth to a daughter and asks Martha to raise her, until forty years later when they are all given the opportunity to reunite.