Time 151-200

Summary

Henry is 28 and 33. Henry, 28, takes Clare, 20, out to dance. At the dance Clare runs into Henry's old fame who is still broken up over their relationship. Clare is confused and upset when Henry, 33, appears. He has a talk with her about the situation and explains that the life he was living was before he even knew about her. And tells her that it's now her turn to be the teacher and help straighten him up.

Next, it's Christmas Eve and Clare, 20, is taking Henry, 28, to meet her parents. Everyone likes Henry and he seems familiar to some of them. They have encountered an older Henry in the past on one of this time traveling trips. Clare's mother makes a scene over the fact that Mark (Clare's brother) has gotten a girl pregnant and is getting married. Later Clare reveals to Henry that her mother suffers from depression. Henry suddenly finds himself feeling out of the loop, wishing that Clare had communicated these things to him beforehand.

During mass Henry time travels to the future and meets himself four days later and tells himself this is the only time traveling event he'll experience while at Clare's for Christmas.

We leave off with Henry, Clare, Alicia and Mark playing pool.

Questions
What do you think about Henry's comments on how he feels left in the dark with Clare not communicating everything to him?
What is your impression of Clare's family?
How has her family impacted who she is?

My thoughts
I found it interesting how Clare is now the "teacher." How she is there to help Henry get his life together. She's so used to the mature Henry, her dream man. Right now, in the present, he's not the same person from her past, he doesn't meet her expectations. This is very realistic depiction of a relationship between a man and a woman. Traditionally you have the female who is taught to wait patiently for her dream man. For the male it is more acceptable for him to explore his sexuality. (This is also seen in the situation with Mark and Sharon. Mark's family, especially the mother, seems to look at Sharon as if she "got pregnant all by herself.") Poor Clare has to get to learn how to whip the young Henry in to shape, so to speak.

I also like how the tables have turned on Henry. Now he is the one who seems to be kept in the dark about things when before it was always Clare trying to solve the mystery of Henry. Now he's having to solve the mysteries of Clare.