Tuesdays with Morrie, is a look a man dying from a terminal illness and how he chose to deal with his prognosis. The book was written by Morrie Schwartz’s former student, Mitch Albom. Mitch was busy with his career, but one night while watching Nightline in 1995, he rediscovered his old professor, dying with Lou Gehrig’s disease. Lou Gehrig’s disease is also known as ALS (amyotrophic lateral sclerosisis). ALS is a fatal degenerative disease of the nervous system marked by progressive muscle weakness and atrophy. It is a form of motor neuron disease.
Morrie did what most people who are aging and dying usually don’t do; he decided to face death with inner dignity and he taught a young man how to live It’s part of every human being’s journey. Unknown, but still a road all must travel. Morrie taught Mitch how to live while he was dying. Although Morrie was dying he still felt death was a mystery. Although death is unknown to all human beings, how people choose to deal with it is a decision they can make.
The unknown is a fearful thing because it is not familiar. I like Morrie’s experience because he did not deal with the mystery of death, but with the things that were known to him. He used all of the resources he had in order to deal with his situation. Morrie’s use of crystallized intelligence,; the ability of his knowledge grow by taking every piece of life wisdom he had and applied it to his journey into death. His use of semantic memory, the basic facts of life he was able to maintain, helped him to rationally think about his impending inability to speak, go to the bathroom on his own, use his hands, or walk. Morrie dealt with how he would feel; the depression that would set in and he thought about how to handle his emotions as his body shuts down.
Tuesday’s With Morrie made me think about death, and how I would handle it. Now death comes in many ways; one may be in a fatal accident, natural death, which I consider unexpected; or by a terminal illness that may be quick or drag on for months maybe even years. However it comes, death remains a mystery. I hope I can deal with the known fact
