Making God Laugh - a comedy of planners by Sean Grennan

Making God Laugh follows a family over the course of thirty years' worth of holidays. Starting in 1980, Ruthie and Bill's grown children -- a priest, an aspiring actress, and a former football star -- all return home, where we learn of their plans and dreams as they embark on their adult lives.
The empty-nester parents contend with their own changes, too, as old family rituals are trotted out and ancient tensions flare up. As time passes, the family discovers that, despite what we may have in mind, we often arrive at unexpected destinations.