Mitch Albom’s Tuesdays with Morrie is a beautiful, timeless, ever-relevant book in my opinion. The book chronicles the weekly (every Tuesday, hence the title) conversations that Mitch Albom had with his professor, Morrie Schwartz, who was diagnosed with a terminal illness.
Morrie taught me a lot about death and how to approach life after having accepted death. In Morrie’s own words, “once you learn how to die, you learn how to live.”
Like quite literally anyone in my life, I too am deadly afraid death. I think about all my hopes, desires, people I love, and the stuff that I would miss out on. I end with the realization that I’m not ready yet. I need more time. On the other hand, Morrie, a man who struggled with a painful illness, made death sound almost friendly. He took away my fear from it.
One of the many things that scare me about death is being forgotten by my loved ones. I feel like this is a fear that many of us have, hence why we’re so hellbent on “leaving a legacy” by working so freaking hard, oftentimes only in our professional lives, to ‘be good enough’ to be known. When Morrie was asked if he shared that same fear of being forgotten once he passes, he explained that he isn’t because even though he isn’t present physically, he knows that the memory of him will continue to hold a special place in all of his loved one’s hearts. He wholeheartedly believed that “love is how you stay alive, even after you are gone.”
After reading this book, which honestly felt more like a long wholesome conversation, I realized that I may be hiding behind love and chasing after time to potentially escape the fear of death. Love is meant to be empowering and something that motivates us to shine brighter. However, I feel like I’ve been using my love for myself and my people to feel like I can extend my lifespan. The book also made it clear that we’re desiring the wrong things in life. The money, status, power, materials won’t bring us anything when our time eventually comes. Love is the greatest entity of all and it’s going to be the greatest superpower of ours when we approach our passing.
I’d like to end with Morrie’s words:
“Don’t let go too soon, but don’t hold on too long.”
Esha Kode 