Tuesdays with Morrie

I asked a former colleague to gift me with Mitch Albom’s book “Tuesdays with Morrie” because I feel I’m the only person in the planet who hasn’t read it yet, and guess what? – I received one!!!!

Sure, I’ve heard and read magnificent reviews about it, but not until I’ve perused it myself that I realized why this book has captured the hearts of millions around the globe.

Tuesdays with Morrie was the “final thesis” of American writer Mitch Albom, where he recounted the remaining days he had spent with his college professor, ‘coach’ and ‘friend’ Morrie Schwartz. After 16 long years of not seeing each other, Mitch finally found a way to reunite with his favourite teacher, who was then battling ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) and who was certain that death was on his doorsteps, ready to come in anytime. 

Mitch made sure to see his beloved teacher in the latter’s house every Tuesday, where meaningful discussions about life – from regrets, family, marriage, forgiveness and death – took place in Morrie’s study. Invaluable life lessons which Mitch Albom would share to the world through this book.

On a Sunday noon, 3 days before Christmas, I finished reading the short book (which I’m pretty sure you could finish in one sitting) and started to have a different view on what and how it’s like to be a teacher to someone else. “A teacher affects eternity; he can never tell when his influence stops,” so said Henry Adams. Morrie Schwartz truly lived up to this.

Morrie’s timeless influence to his students, colleagues, family and strangers was evident in how much loved he felt during his numbered days on earth. Some would drive miles just to pay him a visit; others would call and write him letters. Mitch Albom, on the other hand, apart from his regular weekly visits, wrote a book about him.

Morrie was non-conforming, principled and unique in the truest sense of the word. And this made me wonder, how many people do I know live under the same rule? How many people, teachers or not, have truly touched my life and made me want to be like them?

Morrie’s life was worth telling to the world, and Mitch Albom never made a mistake in recording those rich conversations he’d had with his mentor – words of wisdom told in a study every Tuesday from a man trapped in a decaying body. Not every day do you get to read a touching real-life story like this, and not everyone is blessed to know how to live while you’re about die.

One of my most fave scenes from the book was when Morrie told Mitch what he wanted to be engraved in his tombstone. It’s this: A Teacher to the Last.

Profound. How many of us can be what we are supposed to be even in the final days of our life?

I closed the book, read it again, and wrote this.

I don’t regret demanding it as a gift from a friend. J