This is the story of a half-German, Half-Irish middle class family, some of them first generation immigrants, coping with tragic sudden death in a pre silicone San Francisco Bay Area. Like the mighty tides pounding through the Golden Gate, the lives of these family members ebb and flow through generations. The narrative is seen through the eyes of a young student architect who suddenly becomes responsible for five orphans. The saga depicts the sharp edges of Old World social and religious bigotries being worn down in the great American melting pot. The orphans grow into amazingly successful adults as the old generation cycles into the great beyond.