A Christmas Visitor

In the small American town of New Chatham, Christmas is approaching for the Boyajian family. But father George (William Devane), mother Carol (Meredith Baxter), and their daughter, Jean (Reagan Pasternak), have lost the desire to celebrate. Immersed in grief since the death of their son on Christmas Eve 1991, in the Persian Gulf War, George and Carol have forgone the familial comfort and pleasures of the holidays. But this year, George's annual visit to his son's grave has renewed faith in a heartsick father. Splitting logs for a Yule fire and retrieving old ornaments from the attic, George is determined to bring his family together. His wish comes true in ways none of them could have anticipated. It begins when George picks up a young man named Matthew (Dean McDermott), a hitchhiker presumably without a place to stay. Accepting the generous invitation to spend the night at George's house, Matthew also agrees to a well-intentioned charade: to pretend, for Carol's sake, that he knew their beloved son in the war. But once inside the warmth of the Boyajian home, settled around a festively decorated tree, Matthew has a few surprises in store for all of them--ones that will renew their faith in each other and in the extraordinary miracles of Christmas. (Verleiher-Text)