Before I Leave

This is a personal novella by Fredrik Backman, previously published as The Long Road Home and The First Time in Life, with 51 editions worldwide. The story revolves around a grandfather with Alzheimer's whose memory is fading: he and his grandson Noah often sit on a bench in the square, sharing their obsession with mathematics and numbers; the road home grows longer each day, everything around them blurrier, and the old man can only hold tightly to Noah's hand, hoping Noah will be the last person he forgets. Alongside memory rises the long distance between him and his son Ted: Ted disliked mathematics and loved only writing and guitar, spending his whole life waiting for his father to accompany, encourage, and recognize him; in lucid gaps, the old man confesses that he missed his child's growing up and apologizes for never supporting his dreams, and his son responds with longing and understanding. The narrative moves between the hospital room, the bench and past memories, real and imagined interwoven, as three generations—and the late grandmother—meet again in farewell. The book is short, restrained in tone, with almost no dramatic plot turns, instead laying bare layer by layer the fear of forgetting, clumsy love and belated reconciliation. Before memory fades, what he wants to leave a mark of is simply loving you as always.