So Long, Chester Wheeler(90)
But Estelle did not die on the way home. In fact, she soldiered on for another sixteen months, letting me hone the skills of my calling every day, and forcing me to wait “two years from soon” to further my education.
But nursing school didn’t go anywhere. It waited for me, just as Brian and Estelle had promised me it would.
And guess what? It turned out to be my calling.
BOOK CLUB QUESTIONS
From the very first line of the book and continuing through the story, there is significant friction between Chester and Lewis. What deep-seated feelings and beliefs are being triggered in both characters that contribute to this outcome?
When Lewis meets with his friend Anna, she says about Chester, “Look, I get it. . . . He upset you . . . It usually takes me about three days to let a thing like that move all the way through my system and move on. But while you’re waiting, try not to feed it.” Do you agree with Anna that an upset of this level takes about three days to move through you? What does she mean by advising not to feed it?
There is a famous quote often attributed to Joseph Campbell that says something like “We must be willing to let go of the life we planned so as to have the life that is waiting for us.” How does this quote apply when Lewis decides to take the job of being Chester Wheeler’s caretaker?
One of the themes running through this novel is whether amends or apologies are appropriate. When Chester finally meets up for the last time with his ex-wife, Sue, she tells him, “I couldn’t help falling in love with somebody else, so I’m not really apologizing for it, but there’s a right and a wrong way to handle a thing like that.” What do you think of her statement, and do you agree?
After Chester’s visit with Sue, she kisses him on the forehead and tells him to pack in as much life as he can in the short time left. In her own way, perhaps, she was trying to make amends. Do you believe in the power of forgiveness, or do you think some things can never be reconciled?
After Chester’s death, Lewis ruminates about his experience with the man he’d been in conflict with for so long. “He wasn’t a great person,” Lewis says, “but he was a person.” What does this statement mean to you?
While caring for both Chester and Estelle, Lewis comes to know himself better. What do you see as some of his biggest areas of growth and most significant shifts in his beliefs about himself and others?
Something Lewis realizes toward the end of the book is “All the way down to my gut I got something I’d never gotten before. I got that when a person is rude and abusive to me, it’s not about me at all.” Do you agree with this statement and all that it implies?
By the end of the book, each main character has irrevocably altered the other’s life. Have you had a similar situation in which someone irrevocably altered your life?
Ultimately, Lewis decides to choose a career that might not be as profitable as his previous one, but will provide him more fulfillment, and honor the gift he can share with others. Do you believe that everybody has something special that they can bring to the world?
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Photo ? 2019 Douglas Sonders
Catherine Ryan Hyde is the #1 Amazon Charts and New York Times bestselling author of over forty published and forthcoming books. An avid traveler, equestrian, and amateur photographer, she shares her astrophotography with readers on her website.
Her novel Pay It Forward was adapted into a major motion picture, chosen by the American Library Association (ALA) for its Best Books for Young Adults list, and translated into more than twenty-three languages for distribution in over thirty countries. Both Becoming Chloe and Jumpstart the World were included on the ALA’s Rainbow list, and Jumpstart the World was a finalist for two Lambda Literary Awards. Where We Belong won two Rainbow Awards in 2013, and The Language of Hoofbeats won a Rainbow Award in 2015.
More than fifty of her short stories have been published in the Antioch Review, Michigan Quarterly Review, Virginia Quarterly Review, Ploughshares, Glimmer Train, and many other journals; in the anthologies Santa Barbara Stories and California Shorts; and in the bestselling anthology Dog Is My Co-Pilot. Her stories have been honored by the Raymond Carver Short Story Contest and the Tobias Wolff Award and have been nominated for Best American Short Stories, the O. Henry Award, and the Pushcart Prize. Three have been cited in the annual Best American Short Stories anthology.
She is founder and former president (2000–2009) of the Pay It Forward Foundation and served for more than twenty years on its board of directors. As a professional public speaker, she has addressed the National Conference on Education, twice spoken at Cornell University, met with AmeriCorps members at the White House, and shared a dais with Bill Clinton.