Manuel Galvan is separated from his parents and sister during the mass expatriation of Mexicans and Mexican Americans in the 1930s. He grows from a small, lost and confused boy into a wandering and angry teenager pushed out of high school and into the dockyards. Later as a loyal, passionate husband he is a man searching for a life of value and dignity despite his losses. Set against the backdrop of (Mexican) American history in Los Angeles, forced deportations, the demolition of Chavez Ravine, sterilization of Latinas, student protests and rising political consciousness, this story spans his life, from 6 to 60, and his search for his missing family, the missing pieces of his life.