Newlywed, unemployed, bored and having to live off of his wife's cousin, Billy Bigelow falls on his knife after trying to flee from an ill-fated robbery attempt. Unlike his unsavory cohort, Bigelow never wanted to kill Mr. Bascombe, the cotton mill owner. Billy only wanted half of the $3,000 Bascombe was reportedly carrying. He wanted to use the money to allow him, his wife and the unborn son he was expecting to make a new start in San Francisco. After he dies his wife, actually delivers a daughter, Louise. Billy Bigelow is relegated to a lower realm of heaven where he spends eternity polishing stars. In spite of waving the right to go back for one day when he arrived in heaven, Bigelow convinces the Starkeeper to allow him to go back to Earth to attend his daughter's high school graduation. Any spirit that makes it to heaven can go back to Earth for one day to take care of unfinished business. Billy can only whisper for her to pay attention to what the speaker at her high school graduation is saying about not letting their parents' successes and failures hold them back.