Kevin's story, he the first of the three to enter Jack and Rebecca's outside world life and the one who has generally done things first among the three children, is presented. Kevin's current life continues to spiral downward in his alcohol and prescription painkiller abuse in dealing with the physical pain of his knee and the emotional pain that is his life that he associates with the knee. In wallowing in his self loathing, Kevin in New York, is reminded at the last minute that he has agreed to attend an event at McKinley High, his alma mater, in Pittsburgh tomorrow, he one of this year's recipients of a distinguished alumni award. He will find if his celebrity and the general love that he felt by his classmates when he was a student at McKinley can get him through the event with his reputation intact, especially as he truly believes other recipients, such as Charlotte Everly, a former classmate who is now a plastic surgeon largely working on burn cases, is more deserving than him of such awards. Through the process, he can't help but think of his high school days, most specifically when he and his siblings were applying to colleges. Then, Kevin had no doubt that he would not only get a scholarship to his preferred school, Notre Dame, but that he would go on to a successful and lucrative football career, he openly hostile to any other option much to his parents' chagrin, most specifically Jack's.
—Huggo