Arlene E.

Basco BSBA-MA 1-2

“It’s not too late to get involve”

Morrie was the professor of Mitch Albom, the author of the best selling book
“Tuesdays with Morrie”, that have a disease called ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis).
Mitch Albom was his student and every tuesday, Mitch will always visit his dying
professor. In my own opinion, this story is unique and interesting because not all
sudent-teacher have this kind of relationship. Maybe for some of us, it’s very common to
visit a person that was slowly dying to show that you care for them and to show that
they are important but while I was reading the story, it gives me different view of caring
and showing importance. Every tuesday, Mitch will visit his professor even if it takes a
ride on a plane and make his schedule for tuesday be free from work so that he can visit
Morrie. Not all of us can do what Mitch did for his professor because of busyness and
some priorities in life like work and family. It is also interesting to read for it shows the
readers that in simple ways we can make good memories with a person important to us.
Their relationship shows that in simple conversation, memories can be earned. What’s
unique about this is that instead of talking about jokes and non-sense things, Morrie and
Mitch talks about life and its values. They also talked about the importance of facing
fear and mostly even death. For a person that was dying, it’s hard to talk about death
because it’s hard to let go of the things that you used to be. But for Morrie, death should
not be embarrassing and that philosophy is an extraordinary one because he has
changed millions of lives including his beloved student, Mitch.
While I was reading the story, I somehow relate myself to the character of Mitch
because of his love for his professor. I remember that there is something similar in the
story that happened to me, and I was right. I remember my grandfather who died last
December 29, 2009. I don’t know why the memories that I had with my grandfather are
always running to my mind, maybe because I see him through Morrie. Like Morrie, he
also has a disease, not ALS but a lung cancer. His illness was caused by too much
smoking that even if he is old, he continued to smoke. He was very kind and very
passionate about family that he always visits us during the time his not suffering from
illness and he will stay with us for almost 3 months. Even if it causes him to kill time for
about 7 hours in riding a bus because he was living in bicol, he will never forget to take
a visit. While he was staying with us, I and my grandfather always have our
conversation. Talking about his life, how’s my father when he was young d so many
more. The sad thing is, while we are talking to each other, he will cough harder and
harder that it makes my heart fell sorry for him. I used to tap his back, give it a gentle
massage to ease the pain from coughing. He always used to say that he will going to
die sooner, just like Morrie. In our conversation, he will always tell me about the things
that I must know like: dos and don’ts about following my parents, guidelines about living
a happy life and the most important thing that he had told me is about how precious
studying could be. He used to tell me this: “Study hard and finish your schooling so that
you will be much greater person than what you are now”. I always just nod because I’m
a little bit shy when he always told me about that. Then he added, “Be what you want,
not your parents want you to be because you will be misguided to your goal. Your
parents are just tool to help you be a better person; they will not do things that will make
them suffer if those things are not for your own good. So please remember that.” Those
words that he told me still remain in my mind and heart. Like Mitch, I am change by an
old man that in his death I almost cry but did not show tears. I just smile and said,
“thank you Lo for all the things that you’ve done and shared with me. Now, you can
rest”. Because of these memories, I used to love the book “Tuesdays with Morrie”.
Reading the story about the relationship of a student and a professor definitely
touches my heart, in which turning every page seems like a view of what’s happening in
real life. It was like I was there with them that were watching from afar. It touches my
heart that I can’t pull myself from remembering the important persons in my life.
Question like: “how am I going to make every seconds memorable with them while there
is still time?” is speaking to me. I was also moved by them when Mitch showed
braveness while facing Morrie and how he showed his feelings for him, and also that
how Morrie used to smile while facing death and how he sees death as a good one.
One thing that striked me was how they make lots of memories every Tuesday in a
simple place like Morrie’s home and how every conversation that they had make a
difference in Mitch’s life. I almost cried when the death of Morrie came and it’s like
loosing a part of you. I was extremely amazed on how an old man changed the lives of
people including his Mitch and also including me.
In believe in the saying: “the only thing that is constant is change”. The story
changed me in way that I realize my faults, and that I realize the most important thing, to
love life but not t hate death. I learned that death is also a part of being human by which
it is the proof that we experienced how to live. “Everyone knows that death will come but
no one knows how they will die”. I also learned to appreciate more the people around
me because in the past, I just treat every person that I met as strangers and that they
will just come and go but wen I have read the book it taught me to value every person, it
awakened me to accept every them even if those people don’t know you or you,
yourself, don’t know them. And also in the past, I was a type of person that takes
everyday as an ordinary one. I just let the day passed by that whatever that has
happened in that day, just let it happened. But when I finally finished reading the book,
thoughts came to my mind that we should treat everyday as an opportunity to make lots
of memories, and make it a meaningful one because life is too short and not every day
are the same and also that opportunities are happening only once and that the word
next time may not happened. So it leave a mark on me that we should treat everyday
like it’s our last day. So now, I am learning to appreciate what I have in life and I also
make difference in my life now. I want to change for the best. Just like in the quote,
“Changes are not bad as long as you take changes for the better and best”.
Quotations are like inspirational messages that have hidden meanings and
teachings. That’s how I view every single quotation that Morrie mentioned in the story.
Just like this one, “Accept what you are able to do and what you are not able to
do”. We all know that we are not perfect and that all of us have our own limitations. But
some of us don’t want to accept that there are things that we can’t do. Like some of us, I
sometimes don’t want to accept that there are things that I can’t do and that there are
things that I want to do but my ability is not sufficient for that desire. Reading this quote
is like God, Himself, is speaking to me and the word “accept” is such a powerful word.
Then this verse came in mind, “when I am weak, then I am strong”. I found myself
responding and I said, “God made me like this, if I, myself, can’t accept what I am, how
can I totally accept God as my creator?” so this quote made an impact in me that I
should be satisfied in what I have, in what I can and who I am because if my ability is
not sufficient for my desire, I can turn to God, the provider of everything. And also the
saying, “Happiness is where you find it”. If we don’t accept what we are, we can’t find
happiness because happiness can be gained through acceptance and through
acceptance there is satisfaction. Another quotation of Morrie that gave an impact in me
is this, “The most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let
it come in”. All of us want to experience love; want to feel that you are loved by people
around you. So this quotation made me think and asks myself, “why Morrie said these
things?” When I continued to read, he answered to the next paragraph saying: “Let it
come in. We think we don’t deserve love, we think if we let it in we’ll become too soft…”
Morrie was right when he said that and I think also that people don’t give out love
because they’re afraid of the feeling of not being appreciated when they do that. They
don’t want love to come in because they don’t want to experience pain and when the
time comes that the people they love don’t love them , they don’t know how to let go.
Then these words inspire me, “if you experience pain because of love, then that love is
definitely true”. I stopped for a moment and then I remember God’s love. Even though
that He is God, He experienced how to die because of His love for us. The Love of the
Lord gives us reason to live and made us feel that we deserve to be loved and to give
out love. As a Born Again Christian, what Morrie said help me to realize more the
importance of Love for the people around me and also for me. The eagerness to share
and spread the Love of the Lord became alive again. And I want to be a channel of
blessings for them. The last quote from Morrie that have hitted me is about aging. Aging
for me is about physical appearances that when we say aging it’s like we’ll grow old, our
bodies become weak and our physical features shows changes like getting white hairs,
and so much more but this quote change my view about aging: “As you grow, you
learn more. If you stayed at twenty-two, you’d always be ignorant as you were at
twenty-two. Aging is not just decay, you know, its growth. It’s more than the
negative that you’re going to die. It’s also the positive that you understand you’re
going to die and that you live a better life because of it”. It made me not to worried
or being afraid of becoming old because I realize that the true essence of aging is
growth and that thing must be proud about. I also realize that when we learn from
something and we apply it in our lives that’s the time we can say that we have grown
from that thing and aging is just a proof of that. And when the time of our life comes to
an end, we will not be worried anymore because our life has not become meaningless
and we can proudly say that: “I have won the good fight.”
Aging or the fear of aging has become an interesting part to be read about for
me, because all of us don’t want to experience aging and that all we know is aging
brings a sign that someone is going to die soon. I find it interesting for some reason that
it made me realize that aging is very important in a person. Also that in Morrie’s life, he
never said that he hated being old. He was talking with assurance about death and he
was not embarrassed on his conditioned. I learn to accept aging as an opportunity and
not as a threat because when we get old, it shows that as time passed by, we
experience growth and how to be a better person. Knowing that people that don’t want
to get old means that means that they are not satisfied in their present lives. It
enlightened me to accept aging and not to fear it because after all, aging will come no
matter what and no one can battle for it. What more important is that while we are at our
young age, we have to do what we are supposed to do so that when the time comes
that we are old, we can be proud to ourselves and that we have fulfilled lives and we
can die with satisfaction. That’s how I find the part of aging in the story an interesting
one because as a teen, I learn so many things how to enjoy life while experiencing
aging. And now, do you want to get old and experience aging?