Water for Elephants

[kiakar]

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rkubie wrote:
What do you make of the title, and why does Jacob get furious at the newcomer, Mr. McGuinty, when he claims to have carried the water for circus elephants? Why would these elderly men behave as if they are going to come to blows over this?

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Jacob and Mr. McGuinty were competing for the ladies attentions I do believe. And Jacob was just alittle jealous that Mr. McQuinty got their attention especially by a lie. It doesn't take buckets of water for elephants it takes tropes full. That is, tubs and tubs.
He could have told the ladies how he knew Mr. McQuinty was lying, but he didn't want to share his life at this time, he wanted it to remain a mystery.

[Peppermill]

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kiakar wrote:

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rkubie wrote:
What do you make of the title, and why does Jacob get furious at the newcomer, Mr. McGuinty, when he claims to have carried the water for circus elephants? Why would these elderly men behave as if they are going to come to blows over this?

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Jacob and Mr. McGuinty were competing for the ladies attentions I do believe. And Jacob was just alittle jealous that Mr. McQuinty got their attention especially by a lie. It doesn't take buckets of water for elephants it takes tropes full. That is, tubs and tubs.

He could have told the ladies how he knew Mr. McQuinty was lying, but he didn't want to share his life at this time, he wanted it to remain a mystery.

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How important is it that we be able to share our stories? How does it impact our health? Our families? The process of aging?

[vivico1]

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Peppermill wrote:

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kiakar wrote:

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rkubie wrote:
What do you make of the title, and why does Jacob get furious at the newcomer, Mr. McGuinty, when he claims to have carried the water for circus elephants? Why would these elderly men behave as if they are going to come to blows over this?

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Jacob and Mr. McGuinty were competing for the ladies attentions I do believe. And Jacob was just alittle jealous that Mr. McQuinty got their attention especially by a lie. It doesn't take buckets of water for elephants it takes tropes full. That is, tubs and tubs.

He could have told the ladies how he knew Mr. McQuinty was lying, but he didn't want to share his life at this time, he wanted it to remain a mystery.

---

How important is it that we be able to share our stories? How does it impact our health? Our families? The process of aging?

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Depends on the story dont you think? There are some wonderful stories in my life, that are just mine and whoever might have been involved in them if there was someone. Those are my memories to keep and cherish and I have no need to share them. But there are other things in our lives that we have a need to share and should and maybe those are the ones that affect our health if we dont. Otherwise, to me what we share doesn't really affect our aging, because in a sense, its not whether you get it out of your mouth that keeps your mind healthy as much as if you can just remember it in your mind and do those thinking exercises for the brain to keep it healthy. Jacob didnt share his life with anyone in the nursing home it sounds like and hey he was "90 or 93" . But at the same time, at the right time,when he was ready to and it had a purpose, he shared it all with someone. I dont know that it had an affect by then on his aging, but it helped him get the life back he wanted hopefully. I hope he was able to do something once he got it, and wasnt disappointed by what he couldnt anymore, except in memories. OK tried to answer that as best I could without a spoiler lol.

[kiakar]

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Peppermill wrote:

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kiakar wrote:

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rkubie wrote:
What do you make of the title, and why does Jacob get furious at the newcomer, Mr. McGuinty, when he claims to have carried the water for circus elephants? Why would these elderly men behave as if they are going to come to blows over this?

---

Jacob and Mr. McGuinty were competing for the ladies attentions I do believe. And Jacob was just alittle jealous that Mr. McQuinty got their attention especially by a lie. It doesn't take buckets of water for elephants it takes tropes full. That is, tubs and tubs.

He could have told the ladies how he knew Mr. McQuinty was lying, but he didn't want to share his life at this time, he wanted it to remain a mystery.

---

How important is it that we be able to share our stories? How does it impact our health? Our families? The process of aging?

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It seems to me, sharing would have helped him, but he had reasons not to want to reveal his story. But getting things out, talking about them helps us all but men fall short when it comes to heeding this. And too, maybe his pain was still raw. His late wife was the world to him.

[IBIS]

Peppermill wrote:
How important is it that we be able to share our stories? How does it impact our health? Our families? The process of aging?


SPOILER ALERT

Those are thought-provoking questions. Sharing stories is very much encouraged in nursing homes. It's part of community therapy... life stories bond the seniors to each other as well as to the staff. Once staff see the elderly as REAL people, with actual life histories, it becomes easier to care for their patients in a more caring way.

In the case of Jacob, I wondered that his 5 children must have known how important the circus was to Jacob. Jacob and Marlena must have told them circus stories while they were growing up. And yet, none of them remembered to visit him when the circus was there. Surely they must have known how important going to the circus was for him?

I wonder if the secret he kept to himself for 70 years closed him off to his family? I know that he loved Rosie, and didn't want to endanger her life by revealing that she was a killer. But I wonder what emotional cost it was to Jacob to keep Rosie's secret, not only from Marlena, but from his children and everyone else?

What do you all think?

IBIS

Message Edited by IBIS on 12-03-2007 10:22 AM

Message Edited by IBIS on 12-03-2007 11:34 AM

[Peppermill]

IBIS -- (Is it Linda?) Thank you. You and Noberly with her comments that we are at 85 the personalities we were much younger are touching the issues I hoped we might explore. I was saddened that Jacob apparently had been unable to share these moving stories (except via Gruen).

And I agree with others that some stories are our own private ones -- but I fear that sometimes it is too easy to hide or to minimize their value to others. Humans are story-telling beings.

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IBIS wrote:

Peppermill wrote: How important is it that we be able to share our stories? How does it impact our health? Our families? The process of aging?

SPOILER ALERT

Those are thought-provoking questions. Sharing stories is very much encouraged in nursing homes. It's part of community therapy... life stories bond the seniors to each other as well as to the staff. Once staff see the elderly as REAL people, with actual life histories, it becomes easier to care for their patients in a more caring way.

In the case of Jacob, I wondered that his 5 children must have known how important the circus was to Jacob. Jacob and Marlena must have told them circus stories while they were growing up. And yet, none of them remembered to visit him when the circus was there. Surely they must have known how important going to the circus was for him?

I wonder if the secret he kept to himself for 70 years closed him off to his family? I know that he loved Rosie, and didn't want to endanger her life by revealing that she was a killer. But I wonder what emotional cost it was to Jacob to keep Rosie's secret, not only from Marlena, but from his children and everyone else?

What do you all think?

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[kiakar]

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Peppermill wrote:
IBIS -- (Is it Linda?) Thank you. You and Noberly with her comments that we are at 85 the personalities we were much younger are touching the issues I hoped we might explore. I was saddened that Jacob apparently had been unable to share these moving stories (except via Gruen).

And I agree with others that some stories are our own private ones -- but I fear that sometimes it is too easy to hide or to minimize their value to others. Humans are story-telling beings.

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IBIS wrote:

Peppermill wrote: How important is it that we be able to share our stories? How does it impact our health? Our families? The process of aging?

SPOILER ALERT

Those are thought-provoking questions. Sharing stories is very much encouraged in nursing homes. It's part of community therapy... life stories bond the seniors to each other as well as to the staff. Once staff see the elderly as REAL people, with actual life histories, it becomes easier to care for their patients in a more caring way.

In the case of Jacob, I wondered that his 5 children must have known how important the circus was to Jacob. Jacob and Marlena must have told them circus stories while they were growing up. And yet, none of them remembered to visit him when the circus was there. Surely they must have known how important going to the circus was for him?

I wonder if the secret he kept to himself for 70 years closed him off to his family? I know that he loved Rosie, and didn't want to endanger her life by revealing that she was a killer. But I wonder what emotional cost it was to Jacob to keep Rosie's secret, not only from Marlena, but from his children and everyone else?

What do you all think?

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Did Jacob's children really know about the circus? I can't remember if Jacob ever admitted telling his children about the circus. Maybe Marlena and Jacob didn't talk about the circus after years passed. Did she think he did it? She never knew who did do it,, did she? It was a rough, hard life they lived in the circus, so maybe they didn't dwell or discuss it with their family. Children have always done this, forgot the important things that Parents are about. They are busy with their own lives and do not think of what a parent in a nursing home wants or desires. The children feel the relative is cared for in the nursing home. That is easier than being actively involved.
What good would it have done to tell who killed August? I felt Jacob wanted to thank Rosie for saving Marlena from such a brute.

[Fozzie]

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IBIS wrote:
Peppermill wrote:
I wonder if the secret he kept to himself for 70 years closed him off to his family? I know that he loved Rosie, and didn't want to endanger her life by revealing that she was a killer. But I wonder what emotional cost it was to Jacob to keep Rosie's secret, not only from Marlena, but from his children and everyone else?

What do you all think?

SPOILER

I recently read a good article in O magazine about secrets. The article stated that keeping a big secret affects every part of your life, and in doing so, affects the lives of those around you. To me then, the question is how big of a secret was it that Rosie killed August? Jacob was married to Marlena, who didn't know the truth, so I have to think that keeping that secret had to impact the family to a degree.

[Peppermill]

Just a minor correction in attribution:

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Fozzie wrote:

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IBIS wrote:
I wonder if the secret he kept to himself for 70 years closed him off to his family? I know that he loved Rosie, and didn't want to endanger her life by revealing that she was a killer. But I wonder what emotional cost it was to Jacob to keep Rosie's secret, not only from Marlena, but from his children and everyone else?

What do you all think?

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SPOILER

I recently read a good article in O magazine about secrets. The article stated that keeping a big secret affects every part of your life, and in doing so, affects the lives of those around you. To me then, the question is how big of a secret was it that Rosie killed August? Jacob was married to Marlena, who didn't know the truth, so I have to think that keeping that secret had to impact the family to a degree.

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