One of the greatest things Professor Morrie Schwartz told former student Mitch Albom about life was: “Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live.” In “Tuesdays with Morrie,” you’ll learn about life, death and everything in between. Morrie would walk that final bridge between life and death, and narrate the trip.
“Tuesday’s with Morrie” is a creative firsthand biography that tells the tale of a friendship between an old professor, Morrie, and his former student, Mitch. In the late 70s when Mitch attended Brandeis University, he took a liking to his energetic sociology professor, Morrie Schwartz. He took every class Morrie taught, and soon the two became great friends.
Every Tuesday they met and talked about life and everything in between until Morrie graduates and becomes fully immersed in a world full of vanity. However, nearly 20 years later, now an award-winning sportswriter, Mitch finds out that his old professor and friend was dying after seeing a Nightline episode that featured his old mentor.
Soon Mitch started visiting Morrie every Tuesday again, just as they used to back in college. Mitch calls his weekly visits to his teacher his last class, and the present book a paper about the meaning of life.
In this inspiring account of Morrie’s life, you fall in love with Morrie’s humor and his fun personality. Morrie is a sweet old man who loves to dance and appreciates the little things we take for granted. Dying of Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) or Lou Gehrig’s Disease, Morrie made it a mission to make the most of his time left.
Determined not to let his ALS deter him, Morrie was very independent until his death, which Morrie said is as natural as life.
Continuing to live life to the fullest, Morrie hosted his own “ living funeral,” where people tell him all the things they would say at a funeral while he was still alive. “The culture we have does not make people feel good about themselves,” Morrie said.
Morrie was a force of nature; he made people feel comfortable with themselves. He made them look deep within themselves and realize their worth spreading happiness and joy.
A failed musician, Mitch is hardworking and ambitious, but he is distracted by the wrong things such as work, fame and success. Morrie teaches him about how valuable life is in all aspects. “The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in,” Morrie reminds Mitch. Together, Mitch and Morrie discuss death, fear, aging, greed, marriage, family, society, forgiveness, meaningful life.
These life lessons leave you reflecting on your own life and could help anyone who’s struggling with finding their purpose or way in life. From the beginning, you know Morrie’s dying, but it still doesn’t prepare you for the cold Saturday morning he’s gone.
To me, Morrie’s death represents the book’s message: you’ll never know the day you’ll leave this earth, but if you live your life to the fullest and realize how valuable your life is you’ll be content.
Morrie teaches us to love one another, how to live with no regrets, and how to not fear dying. To live in this society, of course there are bills to pay and you have to work to provide yourself with food, shelter, and clothing.
However, “Tuesdays with Morrie” encourages us to appreciate the little things in life that matter like the rain falling, our environment and the people who make us who we are.
Sometimes, we get so distracted by the road to success that we don’t realize we miss out on the moment. Reading “Tuesdays with Morrie” will definitely resonate with you and make you value the little things in life.
