Kimi’s father has suffered a stroke, affecting his ability to perform basic physical functions such as swallowing, breathing, and staying awake. The doctors have told the family only that his tests show a “mild stroke.” Kimi’s older brother, Johnnie, is on the phone asking his priest to come bless his father, John Sr. When their mother, Mary appears, Kimi goes to comfort her and is rejected. Kimi isn’t surprised. Her mom has always been reserved around her. Kimi is distracted, too, by Johnnie’s phone conversation. Johnnie converted to Catholicism when he married, but their father is Jewish. In fact, he is a Ph.D. in biology, an expert evolutionist and agnostic for much of his adulthood. Science was his religion. But in recent years he rediscovered his heritage. The siblings argue, and it is apparent they no longer share many common bonds. Their mother departs in tears. To capture the sense that John is aware of the goings on around him, “Host of Daffodils” is shot from his point of view. When John opens his eyes, his blurred vision slowly clears. When he blinks, when he coughs, when he sits up, the camera does, too. The next day there are small gains in John’s recovery. He begins to move his arms and legs. He communicates in simple words. On day three, John is fairly conscious and sitting up in a chair. His ability to speak is coming back in bits, and he is able to cheer his family with his wry sense of humor. On day four, Kimi brings her father’s favorite book of poems to read to him. With a growing sense of understanding for the woman her mother is, Kimi offers Mary the chance to pick out the first poem, and they are both shyly pleased with their new friendship. Kimi is further delighted to learn that Johnnie, despite his own beliefs, has called the local temple, and a rabbi has come to pray for her father. The next morning, Kimi awakes to the phone call everyone dreads. She goes to her mother with the news that John has passed away. But Mary has been awake for hours. She knows. She takes her daughter in her arms to comfort her. Kimi calls her brother, and they exchange “I love you’s.” It is the first time they have meant it in years. In every loss, there is gain, and in John’s last days he has left his family with gifts. Johnnie was given a last chance to make a new connection with his father by putting aside his own religious preferences. Kimi and her mother grew to know each other as women. Johnnie and Kimi regenerated their bond as siblings. Someday soon, they realized, their mother would die as well. But they knew that with their families by their sides, they would be able to deal with any hardship the future held.