Paul, a blind Catholic priest, who grew up in Harlem, has been sent by his Bishop in Mexico to a retreat center in New York to recover from a stroke which has left him paralyzed. In order to make room for her stepson and his wife's growing family in her house in Nicaragua, Joan moves to upstate New York. There she is confronted by the self portrait of her daughter who killed herself. Seamus, a Boston Policeman who could no longer walk the streets after an accident destroyed his foot, has moved to upstate New York and started a business helping migrant farm workers obtain jobs and services. In Surprised by Old Age, these three people in their 70s discover abilities they didn't know they had in love, adventures, artistry..