Living with the Consequences

Choices.

As I read the first 95% or so of “I Know an Old Lady: A coming of age novel,” by Margaret Standafer, I couldn’t help but focus on the theme of choices. The consequences of our choices and how they shape our lives.

In the novel, Standafer outlines the decisions made by Billy Tupper, a grieving and angry teenager living in small-town Munroe, Kan., that lead to his being sentenced by a local judge to spend the summer of 1972 working for Old Lady Baxter.

Billy is tasked with scraping off what peeling paint remains on Mrs. Baxter’s two-story farmhouse and repainting it, as well as mowing her yard, accompanying her to town to run errands and completing any other chores she comes up with. At the same time, Billy’s three friends want him to find evidence corroborating the long-running rumors that Mrs. Baxter is responsible for the murder of four children who disappeared decades before.

But while the plot seems to focus on the consequences of Billy’s ill-advised actions, it becomes clear near the end of the book all is not as it seems.

In fact, it is Mrs. Baxter’s actions that have brought about many of the things Billy is most angry about, such as the judge’s sentence and his beloved younger sister being taken to live with relatives in a distant town after his mother’s untimely death.

That surprising twist and Billy’s initial reaction to it presents a scenario I believe we can all identify with.

Living with the negative consequences of our own actions can be difficult. The decision to betray a friend or loved one leads to a severely strained or even totally fractured relationship. Using credit cards to purchase all sorts of wants that aren’t in the budget leads to a myriad of problems. Filing less-than-honest income tax returns leads to penalties and interest, as well as more careful audits of returns filed for subsequent years.

But living with the negative outcomes of other people’s actions is, as Billy learns and as I’ve learned all too well, even more difficult. Particularly if the other person walks away from their actions seemingly unscathed, their true culpability in the situation unknown by others, leaving us to deal with the fallout, much of which can seem unending.

Of course, those of us who live according to Judeo-Christian beliefs know we are called to forgive those who wrong us. And while that looks relatively easy on paper, the worse the consequences of the other person’s actions and the longer they last, the harder it may be to “turn the other cheek.”

Which brings us full circle. To choices.

To the choice of repeatedly forgiving. Of not dwelling on the past. Of not loudly protesting our own at least partial innocence and publicly exposing the real culprit. Of not allowing bitterness to take root and flourish. To not wallow in self-pity.

Billy Tupper’s story also comes full circle. In the end, he chooses to keep to himself the truth about what led to his sentence of summer labor. More importantly, he chooses to keep to himself — and convinces his friend Joel to do the same — the truths he learns about the long-ago disappearance of those four small children.

He chooses to respect decisions he still doesn’t quite understand, to let go of the past and to make the most of what is to come.

Choices.

I’m so excited that once again this year we will be chatting about our August selection “I Know an Old Lady: A coming of age novel” by Margaret Standafer in-person at The Best Years Active Living Expo. Join us at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Aug. 23, at Century Casino in Cape Girardeau. I can’t wait to meet you and chat with you in-person!

Some questions

we’ll consider:

Billy is sometimes a typical teenager, and at other times, he’s mature beyond his years. Do you find him believable? Explain.

Old Lady Baxter is, at least initially, as crazy and mean as Billy expects her to be. Do you believe she truly changes in the book? If so, what is the catalyst for that change?

Billy’s dad’s name is never given in the book. Is there any significance to that?

Was what Mrs. Baxter did to the four children “right?”

Does Billy do the right thing with the knowledge he gains about what Mrs. Baxter did to the four children?

Up Next

Even though we won’t be meeting via Facebook Live in early August, we will go ahead and turn our attention to our next selection beginning Wednesday, Aug. 9.

And that next selection is “A Thousand Roads Home” (2019) by Irish author Carmel Harrington. Join us as we read the story of Tom, aka Dr. O’Grady, his loyal dog Bette Davis, and some very special people who enter his life and change it forever.

Just a quick note: This book is available in paperback, as an ebook and on audio. If you want the paperback copy and order from Amazon, you will need to type “A Thousand Roads Home paperback” in the search bar; if you omit “paperback,” you will be taken to an entry that only offers the ebook and audio versions.