Brighter Than Sunshine

Last Christmas Matthew bought me a book, 'Tuesdays With Morrie'. For some reason I put it in a giant tupperware box. I then put that giant box in our guestroom aka The Abyss. Since this is not Q&A time I will not be offering any explanations for my actions. Last week we cleaned up that room, though, and Matthew came across the book. I think it was actually crying out from the bottom of the box, "FIND ME! YOU NEED TO READ ME!"

So I started reading it last night- and it is really good!

The author, Mitch Albom, has a great way of capturing his audience, with a subject that seems like it could fill maybe 2-3 pages. There is so much wisdom, I find myself wanting to memorize many parts word for word. Since I have the attention span of a goldfish, that probably won't happen.

You'll be reading about this in future blogs, so I'll give you a bit of background on the book. Mitch goes to college. He gets to be very close with one professor, Morrie. Mitch graduates. Mitch gets to be very successful. Mitch finds out Morrie is dying of ALS. Mitch visits Morrie, hence the title, 'Tuesday's with Morrie'. Morrie is extremely wise, and open about the life lessons he has learned and the dying process.

One afternoon, I am complaining about the confusion of my age, what is expected of me versus what I want for myself.

"Have I told you about the tension of opposites? he says.

The tension of opposites?

"Life is a series of pulls back and forth. You want to do one thing, but you are bound to do something else. Something hurts you, you know it shouldn't. You take certain things for granted, even when you know you should never take anything for granted. A tension of opposites, like a pull on a rubber band. And most of us live somewhere in the middle."

Sounds like a wrestling match, I say.

"A wrestling match." He laughs. "Yes, you could describe life that way."

So which side wins, I ask?

"Which side wins?"

He smiles at me, the crinkled eyes, the crooked teeth.

"Love wins. Love always wins."