Gerry and Toby’s grandfather–grandson relationship

Gerry and Toby’s grandfather–grandson relationship emerges through Gerry’s attentive imagination and modest acts of affection. Toby is not present in these moments, but Gerry repeatedly pictures what would delight him and makes sure to send his love.

Affection in Gerry’s Imagination

While choosing a place for coffee, Gerry encounters enormous wooden figures of Goliath and David. The English menu explains that the figures began as nineteenth-century park-amusement automata, with machinery that could make Goliath’s eyes roll and his head turn. Gerry thinks Toby would love the spectacle, especially the prospect of looking up Goliath’s skirt. The thought makes the grandson’s enjoyment part of Gerry’s experience of the café: he reads the strange figures through the pleasure he imagines they could give Toby.

A Message While Packing

On Monday morning, as Gerry packs the couple’s hotel room, he finds a postcard bearing a Rembrandt image of an old woman reading. The message is signed by Stella and addressed to the family; Gerry is surprised to see that he also signed it, though he has no recollection of doing so. The card’s reference to the three of them places Toby within the family circle, while Gerry’s rediscovered signature offers a small trace of his own participation in that bond.

Using a pen marked Hotel Theo, Gerry writes beside the old greeting, “Give my love to Toby.” The message is brief, but it is a deliberate act of connection amid the practical work of packing. Together with his earlier imagining of Toby at the café, it portrays a grandfather whose affection appears in noticing what might amuse his grandson and in making sure that his love is passed on.