“They were watching him carefully, not wanting him to know,
but betraying themselves with their faces and poor acting scenes,
and he knew they were talking constantly about him in telephone
calls to one another, and saying, “What do you think? How’s he
doing? Is he bearing up? What should we do? What?” (pg.24)
Even though the children’s presence sometimes annoyed Sam, he knew his loving wife Cora was responsible for their caring ways and he took comfort in that. I can really relate to their worrying and overreacting as I too have worried about my own Dad during some tough times.
Sam was very lucky to have family that cared so much and lived so close. Many elderly people do not have family close by, family that cares or family period. Even though Sam feels he can fend for himself and doesn’t need his family’s help, he really does need them. This is evident the time he collapsed from the pain in his hip and also when he got lost on his way to his reunion. Of course, anyone can get lost, however, Sam due to his fragile condition was unable to leave his truck to get help. If it was freezing or nobody came along to help him he very likely would have died that night. It really made me think when Sam collapsed from the pain in his hip. He was in his chair when he woke up and realized he had slept through his television shows and the TV had signed off for the night. He was in a lot of pain and unable to stand up and get his medicine and when he finally was able to stand he collapsed. I can’t imagine being in so much pain that I couldn’t move and to be all alone at the same time with nobody to help me. It just made me realize that no matter how independent a person is they can’t help it when their health fails and as much as they may not want to have to leave their home or have someone come to take care of them it is really out of their control. One thing I have definitely surmised from this is that I will have a ranch house in my older age. I figure if I have to carry two of my dogs down the stairs everyday now, that as an elderly person I am sure I wouldn’t be able to get down them as well. Like everyone else you talk to before they hit old age, I never want to have to live in a nursing home. I want to be self-sufficient for as long as possible, much like Sam.
Shortly after Cora died a white dog began to appear at Sam’s house. Sam figured it was a stray and even spoke of shooting it. He began to feed white dog table scraps and as the days went by the dog continued to appear, but strangely nobody else ever saw it. This of course, gave Sam’s daughter’s plenty to talk about. They worried that he was so lonely that he was hallucinating. Sam enjoyed getting his daughters all worked up and played into the game, which made them even surer he was losing his mind. One day he even pretended in front of his daughter that white dog was with him. “ He leaned over his walker and clapped his hands playfully and pretended that a dog was running to him” (pg64.) His daughter immediately went home and called her sister just as Sam knew she would.
When white dog first came around I just thought it was a stray that was going to befriend Sam. When it was apparent that Sam was the only one that saw white dog I knew that is was Cora. I also believed it was her because of Sam’s description of white dog. “Whitest dog he’d ever seen.” (pg. 26.) Another reason was that this dog reminded Sam of a dog Cora fell in love with long ago which was also white like white dog. For anyone that didn’t believe white dog was Cora they had to have some suspicion on the night Sam collapsed from the pain in his hip. White dog was inside Sam’s house the night he collapsed and somehow got out of the house even though all of the doors were closed. That evening Sam’s daughter Kate woke up with a feeling that something was wrong. When her husband looked out the window towards her father’s house and there he saw her, white dog, standing by the road. I got a huge lump in my throat when I read that and again as I describe it here. That was a wonderful part of the book along with the ending when Sam’s son James was at the cemetery and saw the paw prints across the grave of his father.
I think that it is really important for the elderly to be able to stay at their homes for as long as possible, ideally until the end of their lives. Unfortunately, that is not always possible due to financial reasons, failing health or lack of family to help out. Sam was lucky that his family lived close by and could look out for him. This enabled him to stay home until the very end and in essence probably prolonged his life. He was also lucky that he stayed pretty healthy for as long as he did. Many elderly people aren’t so lucky and must totally rely on someone else to help them with their daily needs much like a toddler needs their mother. It is sad for many to lose their independence and even harder to have to rely on their children for care when they are the parent, but that’s what families are for, to be there for one another. Our parents raised us to be who were are today and the least we can do in return is to be sure that they are given the best care possible in their old age.
