When I Think of Christmas

The film begins with Sara Thompson arriving in Oakcrest to assist her mother, Anna, with packing up their family home for a move to a smaller condo. Sara is a successful lawyer in Manhattan, currently working on a high-stakes appeal. During the town's 'Lights Carols' festival kickoff, she encounters her ex-boyfriend Josh Hartman, who has returned from Nashville to produce the town's 70th-anniversary Christmas concert. Their reunion is tense; ten years prior, Sara left for Yale without a proper goodbye, effectively ending their musical duo and romantic relationship. When Josh's rehearsal pianist falls through, Sara reluctantly agrees to step in, leading to long hours of practice that reignite their chemistry. Meanwhile, a secondary romance blossoms between Anna and George, a local carpenter and neighbor at the new condo. While sorting through old boxes, Sara discovers cassette tapes of her late father, Mike, and her mother performing together. She learns that her father wrote a special Christmas song for her mother that was never performed because he died in a car accident shortly after. This discovery forces Anna to confront her grief and the reason she discouraged Sara from pursuing music—fear of the instability and tragedy she associated with that life. As the concert approaches, Josh invites his Nashville agent to the show, causing a rift when Sara feels he is using their reunion to further his own career. Sara is also pressured to return to New York for a prestigious law firm party. However, after a heart-to-heart with her mother about taking leaps of faith, Sara decides to stay. In the climax, Josh surprises the audience by bringing Anna on stage to finally perform the song Mike wrote for her. The performance is a success, healing old wounds for both mother and daughter. In the aftermath, Sara realizes she doesn't want to return to her lonely life in New York. She tells Josh she is licensed to practice law in multiple states and wants to be his partner in both music and life, ending with a romantic reconciliation under the Christmas lights.