Morrie and Heaven
February 15, 2008 - 11:59am — Corys_Stories
One of my favorite authors, within the past 10 years, has been Mitch Albom. He wrote 2 incredible books, which if anything else, really gets the reader to start thinking about themselves and the others in their life.
I’m sure most of you either read or saw the movies of his 2 big sellers, Tuesdays with Morrie and The Five People You Meet in Heaven. The movies starred Jack Lemmon as Morrie and John Voight as Eddie in the other, if you are trying to remember if you have seen either of those flicks.
Mitch Albom, like comedian Will Ferrell, started out as sports reporter. Tuesdays with Morrie, is about Mitch, a fast paced sports writer who catches a glimpse on Nightline one evening of an old professor of his who is suffering from Lou Gehrig’s disease. You have got to read or listen to this book. This book should have a profound affect on you in some way shape or form. Mitch stops and smells the coffee, by making contact with his old teacher, and receives the lessons and lectures of a lifetime. A truly, remarkably moving book. If you are an avid reader, I bet you read it several times. It really has changed my mindset and views on several marvels in life.
The Five People You Meet in Heaven is an achingly moving and inspirational tale of an elderly amusement park worker who dies thinking he was a ‘nobody’ on earth. “Eddie” is killed trying to save the life of a little girl during a tragic ride accident: he wakes up in heaven to learn that the first stage is where you meet five people who were affected by your life, some of whom you might know, some you might not. Eddie’s “journey” through his life and the people he touched opens his eyes to the interconnectivity of us all.
When I think of these 2 books, I think of a question that was posed to me while back in grade school. If you could have dinner with anyone you’d like, with whom would it be? I remember being 10 years old and writing down,
Mr. Rogers. Boy, did I get ridiculed. He was my boyhood hero, and when I eventually had the opportunity to befriend him and have several dinners with him, it was a dream come true.
Fred Rogers became like a ‘Morrie’ to me. He was my mentor, my idol, and my very good friend. Since his passing, I think of Mitch’s other book about ‘heaven’ and I keep having strong feelings that Mr. Rogers is going to be one of the 5 people I will meet if I get to heaven.
DO YOU HAVE A MORRIE IN YOUR LIFE? HAVE YOU LOST CONTACT WITH THAT INSPIRATIONAL FIGURE?
AND, WHO WILL BE THE 5 PEOPLE YOU MEET, WHEN YOU GET TO HEAVEN? Or WHO WOULD YOU LIKE THEM TO BE?