Bookish Sundays

Title: Tuesdays with Morrie


Author: Mitch Albom

Synopsis [c/o Barnes & Noble]: Maybe it was a grandparent, or a teacher. Someone older who understood you when you were young and searching, who helped you see the world as a more profound place, and gave you advice to help you make your way through it. For Mitch Albom, that person was Morrie Schwartz, his college professor from nearly twenty years ago.

Maybe, like Mitch, you lost track of your mentor as you made your way, and the insights faded, and the world seemed colder. Wouldn't you like to see that person again, ask the bigger questions that still haunt you?

Mitch Albom had that second chance. He rediscovered Morrie in the last months of the older man's life. Knowing he was dying, Morrie visited with Mitch in his study every Tuesday, just as they used to back in college.

Tuesdays With Morrie is a magical chronicle of their time together, through which Mitch shares Morrie's lasting gift to the world.

Maybe it was a grandparent, or a teacher, or a colleague. Someone older, patient and wise, who understood you when you were young and searching, helped you see the world as a more profound place, gave you sound advice to help you make your way through it.

For Mitch Albom, that person was Morrie Schwartz, his college professor from nearly twenty years ago.

We choose not to contemplate death.  Perhaps there is a safety system in place; a will, life insurance, guardians willing to look after children.  But on a daily basis, we avoid these thoughts.  The fact that at one moment, we can exist.  In the next, we're gone, leaving behind family, friends, colleagues.  It is absolutely terrifying to even consider.  Sometimes we are prepared for ourselves or for others to leave our lives.  Sometimes we are blindsided with death and have no chance to express our unspoken thoughts or feelings.  And those words that are left unspoken, those thanks we have never expressed, the feelings or regrets we never allowed ourselves to feel; they haunt us.  A bitter taste to the mind.

This novel tells a tale of a great man who influenced many, and who faced death with a brave stance.  He allowed himself to feel as much as possible, saw beauty in every day, learned to enjoy his slow degradation.  He openly admitted his fears, described his wonder, accepted his fate.  And he taught others to do the same.  Not to hold on or deny what would eventually occur, but to embrace it while learning to give voice to every little thought or feeling.  To believe that our fears of being forgotten are unfounded.  Everyone is loved.  Those who love will always remember.

Tuesdays with Morrie is a story that never fails to bring me to tears, and always leaves me in deep thought.  Not only about my eventual demise and that of those around me, but also how to live and be the best I can.  Hopefully you will pick this novel up, read the pages, and be left with a sense of fulfillment and hope, as I am.