'Tuesdays with Morrie' by Mitch Albom - a story too good to miss

 

 

The story is about Morrie’s last class with Mitch, his only student, who visited with him every Tuesday in the last months of his life. And the weekly class, taught from experience, was on The Meaning of Life. 

Confined to a wheel chair, Morrie talked with Mitch, giving him advice on various life issues. Before meeting Morrie again after years’ separation, Mitch had had a very busy life, taking labor as his companion, moving everything else aside. The weekly conversations with Morrie, however, gradually convinced him that full days are not necessarily satisfied and that the things people spend so much time on might not seem as important. Morrie also advised him to learn to ‘detach’ - to avoid clinging to something since nothing, not even fear, is permanent. Instead, it is important to join in one big human family in the world, sharing love with one another, as love, according to Morrie, is how we stay alive.

This is not a book that gives the reader feelings of suspense or excitement. What keeps the reader turning the pages are the fatherly conversations through which the old man shares his positive thinking with his student. The reader gradually finds himself attending the class with Mitch, getting enlightened by Morrie’s wisdom and insight. What is perhaps most inspiring is his accepting attitude towards aging and death. In spite of his ebbing health and increasing dependency on others, he would not indulge in self-pity. Instead, he was determined to live with dignity, with courage, with humour and with composure as he thought that dying is not synonymous with uselessness and, on the contrary, it is as natural as life. He believed that as one is prepared for death, one can be more involved in one’s life while living.  

The book is one of the best I have read. While the loving relationship between the old man and the young man is touching beyond words, Morrie’s philosophies about living with death's shadow can encourage the reader to get a positive message out of something, even something as dreadful as death. 

 All in all, ‘Tuesday with Morrie’ is a story too good to miss.