Although his parents take him to church and read Bible stories to him, Tom has religion but doesn’t know Christ as he matures. Smart and responsible, he studies architecture, meets and marries Judy, who becomes a teacher. For eight years they live near her family. Her father’s death of brain cancer and their following move to Georgia, away from her mother, leave her feeling trapped. Then his partnership dissolves. They end up divorced and she shoots herself. The first part ends with Tom’s grief and guilt.