Dear Mitch Albom,


My life used to be a series of meaningless days that seemed to be flying by me at the speed of light. Another ordinary day came and went, and another, and another. Each day the same, get up, go to school, go to sports practice, go home, homework, bed, and repeat. The pattern continued day after long, agonizing day. I would find myself counting down the minutes until the boring school day came to a close. Soon enough, it would be the beginning of a new day, and I would again begin the countdown. I counted away the first half of my eighth grade year, until one day, as I stared at the blinking red numbers on the clock signaling the last twenty-three minutes of English, my teacher announced we had to read a book of our choice for a book report. I chose your life story.

A week later, I was lost in the depths of Morrie’s words to you about the right way to live and the right way to die. I realized that I was taking the gift of life for granted, and being completely selfish! Morrie pushed on through every thing he was going through, and despite all that was happening to him, he never failed at attempting to forget it all and trying to help the world. Morrie’s determination and teachings were a wake up call to my life. I was counting down minutes, hours, days, and before long it would all be over. Is that what I wanted, to count away my life? I was full of selfishness, and not thinking about the world around me whatsoever. I never considered it from Morrie’s point of view. I never considered trying to help everyone else succeed on something that I had failed. I never once thought to cherish everything I had, because soon it would be gone and I would run out of second chances. I was counting, counting mistakes, counting hours, counting away everything, and any second the countdown might stop.

After turning the final page, I made a promise to myself. I would no longer spend days counting down each minute, but rather spend them trying to live my life to the fullest, without regrets. I promised myself to help others even when I failed. My life had transformed because of Morrie’s influence. The selfishness and wastefulness was gone and replaced by a love for the world around me. I was determined to live out life and make it the best I possibly could make it, not wasting any more time counting.

Tuesdays with Morrie is so much more than the story of an old dying man and his former student; it is a lesson to the world of readers and a lesson to me on how to really live. If I had never come across this book, I would forever have lived sitting around counting down my life, instead of making a change, helping others, and living this gift of life to the fullest. Your book taught me to find a purpose in my life and live for it. In Morrie’s words, “So many people walk around with a meaningless life. They seem half-asleep, even when they’re busy doing things they think are important. This is because they’re chasing the wrong things. The way you get meaning into your life is to devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.” I found my purpose and my meaning through Morrie’s final teachings to you, an oblivious student, much like me.