Number Our Days

[so P bubble]

Thank you Ginny, thank you all for making the reading of this book such an enriching experience with all the comments.
I was away for the last days, busy with family duties and I am sorry  not to have participated more.
I hope you will forgive me.

"The book started with a man, a heroic man in the center, and ended with a group of women, the enduring women, somewhere in the background but never faded away - isn't that itself a symbolic message the author wants to convey about the Judaism culture and religious traditions?" Very acute remark!

Then it is Shalom and maybe lehit'ra-ot (au revoir) on the next book.
It was a pleasure to meet you all and be part of this group.

[bellamarie]

I shall leave you all with what we began with.....

Psalm 90:12 So teach us to number our days, That we may present to You a heart of wisdom.

See you in September!

[ginny]

Well as much as I hate to do it, it seems it's time to leave this outstanding experience, and what an experience you've all made it! Many grateful thanks. I am so glad to see you made it in Bubble, and Ann, I didn't want to conclude without you.

I've been engrossed in a book by David Solie, entitled  How to Say It to Seniors, which is a direct legacy of our experience  for me,  and talks about the reason the generations have conflicts. (For instance, whether or not mom needs to move from her home, why dad is so difficult about making the smallest decision, why neither of them just will not  do what is on the younger person's agenda for their best good, and why the elder is so stubborn). It explains that  the elder is in a different place, and now is  directed by needs and concerns the younger generation can't imagine,  a need of legacy and control in a life of daily losses.

They are  looking back in an important need, and why this must be respected. It  also  recommends a book by Rabbi Zalman Schachter-Shalomi: From Age-Ing to Sage-Ing: A Revolutionary Approach to Growing Older.    That's next on my list.

Although How to Say It to Seniors  is intended for 50  and 60+ year olds confronting a stubborn parent, I find it is quite bolstering and strengthening from the part of the other side: the elder. He's right on.  I read half of it in one day yesterday in one sitting.

Number Our Days  and our experience here has caused a shift in the way I think about elders,  and that alone was worth the read for me,  but that understanding has been the result of the  the company here and each of your contributions  which have really made  the difference.

I'd like to thank all of you for the wisdom you shared, and of course your kind remarks here at the end, much appreciated, in our discussion of this extraordinary book.

This discussion is now closed, but don't  miss our Fall Book Club Online selection:  Trollope's The Warden, part of The Chronicles of Barsetshire coming  October 4.