Tuesdays With Morrie

For my Ap Composition book I chose to read Tuesdays With Morrie. I was excited to finally read this book after having seen the movie in middle school. I knew this book would open up many new emotions with me; however, I was taken back by how touching this book turned out to be.

Tuesdays With Morrie shares the story of a college sociology professor named Morrie Schwartz who developed a deep friendship with student Mitch Albom. During Albom’s years at Brandeis University, he and Schwartz had a unique bond with each other. After Albom graduated college, he lost touch with his old college professor buddy. His dreams of becoming a pianist were soon refilled by his job as a newspaper columnist. Sixteen years after lasting seeing his old professor friend, Albom stumbled upon a Nightline interview with Schwartz. He quickly learned of Schwartz’s battle with Lou Gehrig’s disease (ALS). Albom gave his old friend a call, and sure enough Schwartz still remembered his former student.

Albom felt unsure about seeing Schwartz for the first time since college graduation. He quickly found how easily it was to pick up right where he and Schwartz had left off. Albom’s visits become weekly (Tuesdays) due to a newspaper strike that lands him unemployed for a period of time. One of the reasons I enjoyed reading this book was the life lessons packed on every page. Since Schwartz was a sociology professor, his views on issues differ from those of us who have never stopped to actually think about life. Albom has gotten caught up in his job and has forgotten what it means to live. He spends his days knee deep in writing and interviews, so his life has gotten away from him. Schwartz is able to reel him back down to earth with some of the topics Albom has requested to talk about. Death, aging, love, and forgiveness only start to cover the topics he chose to discuss with Schwartz during his last few weeks.

Schwartz continually went back to one piece of advice he gave Albom on the day Albom asked him about how one can be prepared for death. He said that, “The truth is…once you learn how to die, you learn how to live.” He spend the next few weeks teaching Albom what it means to live your last few moments of life. Schwartz has accepted that his death is fast approaching. He tells Albom that he must know how to die before he will know how to live. What he means by that is you have to be aware that one day you will lose everyone and everything that is close to you. He hopes that this will prompt the urge to value and appreciate those things that we have for only a limited time. This was my favorite piece of advice out of this book. It is one thing for somebody to tell you to appreciate life, but it is another to read a book about a man dying, who has accepted the fact that he won’t be there in a few months, and having him show you just how precious life can be.

Overall I enjoyed reading every word of this book down to the last tearful goodbye. As hard as it is to think about dying, I think people could benefit from reading this book. Schwartz puts a different spin on everyday ideas and turns them into words you will never forget. I believe I could read this book again and still learn new lessons in life. Tuesdays With Morrie not only tells the tale of a man dying, it also shares the story of a man finding a new life.