Laura Finnelly
Writing Assignment #2
July 17th, 2009

Tuesdays with Morrie Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom was a very simple but incredibly poignant story that touched me beyond belief. Morrie Schwartz was a very complex man but on the other hand he was a very simple man and we were able to see it because he was a caring and open man who was willing to share his dying experience with the world to help anyone who wanted to listen. In regards to the environmental press on Morrie at the end of his life, he had the physical press being his disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), an incurable, crippling disease that affects the neurological system. The disease caused Morrie to lose the use of his legs, arms, swallowing ability and ultimately it got his lungs. The interpersonal demands that Morrie had during this time were having to adjust to all the different people who were coming to see him that really hadn’t before he had gotten sick. Those people being his nurses, physical therapists, meditation coaches, his friends and family, Mitch, and Ted Koppel and his crew. The social demands that were pressing on Morrie were society’s view on death. [ (Albom) ] Morrie’s competence levels varied in the five domains: physical health, sensory-perceptual skills, motor skills, cognitive skills and ego strength. Morrie’s disease, ALS, was like a machine eating up Morrie’ nerves, which caused him to more or less wither away and change from a vibrant and active man to a helpless being that “couldn’t wipe his own ass”. This disease gobbled up his physical health and his motor skills to the point where he had nothing left. On the other hand, his sensory perceptual skills, cognitive skills and ego strength seemed to be intact until his death. An example in the book that shows this is that Morrie was coherent enough at his last meeting with Mitch, which he requested, to say his final good-bye to his student that touched him in his heart. [ (Albom) ] In Morrie’s struggle with Erikson’s integrity versus despair, I do feel that this book was a life review because during the “Tuesday” sessions with Mitch, Morrie reflected and spoke about different experiences in his life. Morrie’s evaluation of his life was not filled with many regrets but the two that stand out are that he was never able to say goodbye to his parents before they died and that he did not forgive one of his best friends until it was too late and that friend died. The assessment of his life was primarily positive and he used the assessment as a tool to teach Mitch and anybody who would read his story. Morrie reveled in the fact that he was able to teach in his death and wanted to die when he was not able to have that interaction with people which was very important to him. [ (Albom) ] Morrie was a mentor to Mitch and there were many important lessons that Morrie taught Mitch but there were two that stood out to me. The first one was when they were talking about money on the eighth Tuesday and Morrie was talking about how people in the United States are materialistic and always needing more things and status but that it was never enough. I think this discussion really made Mitch look at his life, his high status career and his big house and think that maybe his priorities were screwed up. What Morrie thought should be our priorities he also spoke of at that discussion and what he said was that you should, “devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning (pg 127)”. One more point he made in regards to giving to people from your heart was that you would be overwhelmed with what you got back. The second important lesson that Mitch learned was that he was able to cry and that it was OK. At his last meeting or the good-bye session with Morrie, which was Morrie last days, Mitch finally broke down and cried. [ (Albom) ] The dying process is different for everybody and Morrie chose to do it in his own way and in the process was able to help people see that dying does not have to be a totally negative experience but that it is part of your life cycle. One of things that Morrie did to deal with his death was become more spiritual in his life. Some examples of this are one, he starting appreciating nature more, (pg 84) and at the end, he was “talking” to God. (pg 163) In regards to Mitch’s dealing with the death of Morrie I think it was hard for him to see Morrie to his deathbed but I think it also helped him to grow as a person and find his identity which he seemed to have lost over the sixteen years that had passed since he graduated from college and last saw Morrie. Mitch’s possible self, meaning who he wanted to become , what he liked to become and what he was afraid of becoming, had changed over the years. When he had graduated from college, he wanted to become a musician, and then after his uncle had died he changed paths and became a journalist. I think he had been afraid of becoming sick and dying, but after his experience with Morrie, I think he is not quite as afraid. [ (Albom) ] This story definitely touched me and I think it actually changed my outlook on life if not just a little. I am going to slow down and smell the roses and remember Morrie’s greatest lesson- make peace with yourself, love yourself, and you will live on through your love.
Works Cited
Albom, Mitch. teusdays with Morrie. New York : Doubleday, 1997.