Postcard
- All aboard. Jacob and Daan are on the train heading out to Geertrui's nursing home. On the way there, Jacob looks out the window and thinks about how people told him Holland was boring before he left. He doesn't get that impression at all though, and he questions what it is to really know something—to know yourself.
- In fact, he's had some good times since arriving—meeting Ton, Alma, and seeing the paintings of Titus. Amsterdam really isn't so bad after all.
- As they ride, Daan reads the newspaper, and then announces that they won't stay at the nursing home long; it will tire Geertrui out and it'll make Jacob too upset. This hits a nerve with Jacob—he can handle seeing her just as much as Daan can, thank you very much.
- When they get there, the nursing home is much larger than he thought it would be. Daan introduces him to Geertrui and quickly leaves so the two of them can be alone.
- Jacob's nervous and he's not sure how to behave. Geertrui tells him he's got his grandpa's eyes and smile, and says there's something about his nature that's like his grandpa too.
- Geertrui asks him why he doesn't live with his parents, and Jacob gets into one big old story. He's never gotten on that well with his dad, and his grandma—Sarah—always loved him a bunch.
- His dad thinks Sarah idolizes his grandpa Jacob way too much and it isn't realistic or healthy; when Jacob was born, Sarah insisted they name him after his grandfather.
- Anyway, one day when Jacob was fourteen, his mom had to have a big operation and she was out of the house for weeks—she usually helped balance he and his dad out, but with her being gone, they started butting heads more.
- So he moved in with his grandma until his mom was supposed to come home, and then he just never left.
- Once the story is over, Geertrui looks him in the eye and asks if he's forgiven his dad, and if he's happy to be alive.
- Jacob isn't really sure what he would forgive his dad for but he thinks he's happy to be alive. Well… sometimes he's not, like when he's in one of his mouse moods, but usually he is.
- This gets a chuckle from Geertrui. Then she asks if he understands why she will die next week. He says he gets it, though he's not sure if he would do the same thing.
- Aha—Geertrui points out he must be happy to be alive then, or why else would he care about dying?
- It's clear Geertrui's in a lot of pain, and that Jacob must leave her soon. She asks him two questions: (1) Can he come back after he visits his grandfather's grave tomorrow? She wants to give him something. (2) Will he read her something from her book of poems?
- We're betting you guess it, but Jacob says yes to both questions.
- He picks a poem by Ben Jonson to read, called "It Is Not Growing Like a Tree."