Tuesdays with Morrie Essay

As Morrie Schwartz faces his terminal disease, ALS, he inspires Mitch Albom with his many aphorisms and life lessons. In tuesdays with Morrie, Morrie is the teacher, Mitch is the student, Morrie’s home is the classroom, and the lesson is life. As the modern transcendentalist, Morrie teaches Mitch about life, every Tuesday. They discuss a plethora of topics, including death, marriage, and forgiveness. The day you realize we are going to die, is the day you change the way you look at things. We are all really “half asleep,” walking around, doing the things we feel we must do, like paying bills, but need to simplify, and learn to really live, learn to love. Morrie says “Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live,” and his words prove true. We all go about our day, not even thinking what can happen at a moments notice. We do not always realize that we may not be here tomorrow. Morrie says that once we have that moment of realization, we live differently. We live as we are going to die tomorrow. Luckily for me, I have had that moment very early in life. My family unfortunately had to deal with a tragedy, the murder of my uncle Junny Rios-Martienez. He was two weeks from the age of 12. They taught me very early that I should live my life like he did, and really live it. My grandmother told me “Life is a gift, don’t let it go to waste by worrying about all the small things, or else you will miss out ” We all need somebody to be there, not just a friend, but a companion and lover. Morrie talks about himself and his own wife, and discusses with Mitch the important things in a marriage. Morrie explains to him that you should have a common set of values in life. He says the most important one is “Your belief in the importance of your marriage,” which is very true in this society. In many families today, including my own, there are divorced parents. People get so caught up in life, they do not put the marriage on the top of the priority list. Therefore it falls,