Tuesdays with Morrie: an old man, a young man, and life's greatest lesson Review

Tuesdays with Morrie: An Old Man, a Young Man, and Life's Greatest Lesson, by Mitch Albom, explores the process of living while preparing to die.

The Story:

Mitch Albom sees his former college professor, Morrie, on a TV interview with Ted Koppel. After learning that Morrie has ALS, Mitch decides to visit Morrie, and the two decide that they will continue these visits on Tuesdays each week and turn the taped conversations into something of an unofficial thesis.

With death approaching in mere weeks, Morrie turns his home office into a makeshift classroom as he shares his thoughts on priorities in life in the face of death. Mitch candidly and vividly describes a man who loved to dance, spit food when he talked, and at first dreaded having to become dependent. As their conversations continue, Mitch seems to change from a man who identifies himself as a sports writer to a friend who provides help when needed. What he learns in this "classroom" may actually spill over into his life outside of Morrie's house.

My Viewpoint:

Tuesdays with Morrie provides great details in 192 pages and is written in such a way that I was drawn into the story and did not want to put the book down. Even my husband became interested in the book when he saw that the author was a sports writer. Frankly, I had never heard of Mitch Albom before, but if he can write about sports as well as he wrote this book, I might actually be tempted to read something about sports some time before I die.

I have a good friend whose husband was just diagnosed with ALS. It is an ugly disease, but the disease cannot take away the beauty and tenacity of the people within.