The Notebook opens with an unnamed narrator asking "Who am I?" Readers realize that this narrator is also an older person because 30 years ago the narrator's daughter knitted the sweater that is being worn; soon after, readers learn that this nameless narrator is 80 years old. The narrator provides two choices for the reader, claiming that this narrative is either a love story or a tragedy, depending on whether you are a romantic or a cynic, and yet, the narrator considers it a little bit of both.
Without revealing specifics, the narrator states that the life path that the narrator has chosen to follow was indeed a choice, and the major difficulties, or problems, began three years ago. The mention of both a nurse and crying suggest a nursing home or some other extended care facility, and when the narrator quotes a nurse, the narrator's gender is finally revealed — he is a male.
He walks down the hall into a room and chats with the two nurses who are in the room. Then he settles in to his usual chair, knowing that the crying will soon stop. The woman he is visiting does not know who the narrator is. The narrator mentions both God and the power of prayer. And then he starts to read from a notebook, in hopes that the miracle will again prevail.
