Tuesdays With Morrie, by Mitch Albom

Book reviews: Tuesdays With Morrie, by Mitch Albom

by Joyce D. Sinclair

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The 1997 best-selling book Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom is the perfect weekend book. Semi-autobiographical in nature, Albom tells the story of his life after he happens to see a former professor of his from Brandeis University (Massachusetts) on Nightline with Ted Koppel. He finally summed up the courage to visit Morrie Schwartz at his home, after finding out that he was dying of ALS, otherwise known as Lou Gherig's disease.

Morrie offered Albom one final class, with him as the only student, and it met every Tuesday in Morrie's house. The requirements were to visit him, talk, listen, and write down everything he learned, thus culminating in this book. His conversations on life, religion, families, dealing with our pasts, making career choices, and deciding what's important in life touch everyone. There is not a single person who can't learn something or be touched by something in this book.

As Albom's visits with Morrie continue, the professor's health is deteriorating. Albom had made it a point to always bring food to his visits, but soon the professor was not able to eat solid foods any longer. Yet, he mustered up the energy for each lesson. It put things in perspective for Albom, whose life was at a crossroads.

For thirteen Tuesdays, there was a different lesson: The World, Feeling sorry for yourself, Regrets, Death, Family, Emotions, Fear of Aging, Money, How love goes on, Marriage, Our culture, Forgiveness and The Perfect Day. The fourteenth Tuesday was time to say goodbye to his dear teacher and mentor. By this time, Morrie was not doing well at all. A few days later, he slipped into a coma and died on Saturday. Even though Morrie Schwartz's body may have stopped living, his lessons are timeless. His love of education continued literally to the very end, concluding with his own graduation death.

This book should be sold with a box of Kleenexes. It reiterates that life is so fragile. Morrie has spoken on occasion of a pink hibiscus plant he has which represents the fragility of life. He also talks about reincarnation and the cyclical orbit of our life and our world, alluding to the idea that waves are not a singular body, but part of the larger whole of the ocean. It's philosophical, insightful and written in an easy-to-read prose that everyone can identify with.