The Notebook

In the present day, the elderly Noah closes the notebook and looks at the woman in the nursing home who he has “read to […] this morning, as I do every morning, because it is something I must do” (173). They always spend the day together, but their nights are spent alone. Sometimes he sneaks in to watch her sleep for a few moments because “[w]hen I look at her face, a face I know better than my own, I know that I have meant as much or more to her. And that means more to me than I could ever hope to explain” (174).

What they are doing will end soon, and his diary entries grow shorter each day. On most nights, he visits other residents on his floor and reads poems to them or tells them about adventures with Allie.

When he finishes reading to her, she says it was a beautiful story and asks if he wrote it. She wants to know if he has read it to her before. When he says yes, she says that it makes her feel safe. She asks, “‘Is it a true story […] Did you know these people?’” (179). He says yes. When she asks which man Allie married, he tells her that she chose the right one and that she will know more by the end of the day. The woman says that she does not want to hurt him but that she has to ask him a question: “‘Who are you?’” (80).

They have lived at the Creekside Extended Care Facility for three years. It was her decision, and he went with her to be close to her and to have the staff help him manage his pain. He looks at his hands, which are ravaged with arthritis. There is not much he can do with them. He is also undergoing treatment for his third bout of prostate cancer. Four of their five children are still alive, and they visit Creekside often, even though it is difficult for them emotionally, and “[s]ometimes I wonder what my wife thinks of them as she dreams, or if she thinks of them at all, or if she even dreams. There is so much about her I don’t understand anymore” (182).

He tells her that his name is Duke—a joke since he is a John Wayne fan. She says again that she feels as if she knows him but cannot remember. He recites a Walt Whitman poem for her, and she asks him to stay for a while. They go for a walk together and hold hands.

Noah says that she became a famous painter, with her work in museums all over the world. He recounts the early days, when her fledgling dementia looks like mere forgetfulness. Then she begins to forget neighbor’s names and puts clothes in the dishwasher or books in the oven. One day he finds her lost, three blocks away, crying and unable to remember where her home is. Six days later, Dr. Barnwell runs a series of tests on her and tells them that she is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s disease. Noah describes it as “a barren disease, as empty and lifeless as a desert. It is a thief of hearts and souls and memories” (188). A line from a poem occurs to him in the doctor’s office: “‘No drowning man can know which drop of water his last breath did stop’” (188).

That visit was four years prior. After Allie had written her will and organized her remaining years, she wrote letters to her children and one to Noah. “I read it sometimes when I am in the mood” (190), and it always reminds him of their youth. He also reads the letters he wrote to her, which she has saved, and “[w]hen I sift through them I realize that romance and passion are possible at any age” (191). He is also reminded of the grief they have shared when he reads a letter he wrote to her after their son died at age 4:

In times of grief and sorrow I will hold you and rock you, and take your grief and make it my own. When you cry, I cry, and when you hurt, I hurt. And together we will try to hold back the flood of tears and despair and make it through the potholed streets of life (192).

When Noah reads the final letter, it tells Allie that he wrote their story at the behest of their children. Noah writes to her that, even though he was not there when she told Lon she could not marry him, he admires the strength it must have taken: “You said he told you that I was a lucky man. He behaved as a gentleman would, and I understood then why your choice was so hard”(195).

On their walk, Allie asks Noah if this is something they do often, walking together. He tells her that they do and they have for their four years together at Creekside. When she asks him if his wife is dead, he says, “‘My wife is alive in my heart. And she always will be’” (199). They sit quietly together: “It seems only the old are able to sit next to one another and still feel content. The young, brash and impatient, must always break the silence. It is a waste, for silence is pure” (200).

Noah has learned that they do best when he answers her questions in as little detail as necessary. When her memory faded, she grew bitter as she looked at their photos or pictures of the children she could not remember. He now takes care not to remind her of details that might cause her pain.

As they walk again, she tells him that she thinks she has an admirer, and she thinks it’s him. She takes out a piece of paper that she found beneath her pillow. It is a poem. She found another in the pocket of her coat. The sun sets, and she stares at him. She says she wants to make the moment last, even though she knows she will forget it. He allows himself to hope that this might be the time when her memory stays with her but knows it will not. He writes that, in addition to her memory loss, she sees little people, “like gnomes, watching her, and she screams at them to get away” (207).

Back in her room, they find a candlelit table. Noah has arranged for their dinner together. As they sit, Allie says, “‘I think I know who Allie went with at the end of the story’” (213). She guesses that she went with Noah. They watch each other while a Glenn Miller song plays on the radio. Noah says that he has always loved her, and she replies: “‘I’ve always loved you, Noah’” (214). They hold each other for a few minutes, and then she shouts that the gnomes are staring at her. She looks at Noah and no longer recognizes him. She cries for help and tells him to go away. He takes the notebook and returns to his room. Dr. Barnwell visits him and tells him that it is amazing that Allie maintained a conversation with him for four hours. Noah tells him that he feels alone.

Eight days later, Noah’s hand begins to tingle. He loses his sight. He is in and out of consciousness over the next few days. He is in the hospital for two weeks and hears the nurses discussing the stroke he has had. The right side of his body is largely paralyzed. When he returns to his room at Creekside, he takes his wedding ring out of a drawer and looks at it, whispering, “‘I am still yours, Allie, my queen, my timeless beauty’” (226). He reads a letter from Allie, written shortly after her diagnosis. It tells him that she will always love him and asks that he not be angry with her for forgetting him.

Noah goes into the hall and is stopped by a nurse named Evelyn, who knows he is going to see Allie. He tells Evelyn that it is their forty-ninth anniversary, and she says she will give him a few minutes. He goes in and slips a poem beneath her pillow. He notices that her eyes are open. She kisses him and calls him by name, saying that she has missed him. He says that in that moment, they begin to slide toward heaven together.