The second of three short stories in Fredrik Backman’s collection, And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer is a warm, wistful narration of a journey: a journey toward the end of an old man’s life. However, the old man isn’t just an old man—he’s a father, husband, and most importantly, a grandfather. His grandson Noah, like him, loves mathematics, hates writing, and loves company and ice cream. The age gap between them can be fixed if they “meet in the middle,” which they can, easily, by reciting digits of Pi. But a problem is that for Grandpa, every morning, the way home gets longer and longer.
That’s how Grandpa explains old age to his young grandson, the slow loss of memories and the increasing confusion about the world around him. During his alert moments, he explains to Noah that every morning, the few seconds before he knows where he is, are “unbearable.” And every morning, those few seconds—the way home—get longer and longer. With the slow deterioration of his mental capacities, however, Grandpa is no less loving and tender toward his grandson, nor is he ashamed of the process in the least: he honestly admits his fears, and one can see that he’s aching to see his wife again, who passed away some time ago.
Grandpa’s remaining consciousness illustrated as a square, with a bench under which hyacinths bloom, And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer is a celebration of the ripening end of a life. It is a celebration of how quickly children grow, and how childlike the elderly can become. The novella ends up spanning four generations, allowing the reader a glimpse of the charming resemblance between grandparent and grandchild, the resemblance often skipping a generation.
It’s difficult to find a short story so brutally honest about the process of death without romanticizing it. There are tear-jerking moments when Grandpa forgets who Noah is, or when he forgets that his son, Ted, is all grown up and has a child of his own. Yet the novella is somehow joyful and funny as well, illuminated by the unbreakable love within a family. Filled with tender conversations, And Every Morning the Way Home Gets Longer and Longer is just as truthful, wise and genuine as the title suggests.
