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Book: "Tuesdays with Morrie" by Mitch Albom
Published by Doubleday in September 1997

Precis: A former student (Mitch) gets in contact with his old college professor( Morrie) who is dying from ALS. Throughout his illness Mitch visits his professor every Tuesday as his professor teaches him valuable life lessons.

Quotes: " When all this started, I asked myself, Am I going to withdraw from the world, like most people do, or am I going to live? I decided that I'm going to live-or at least try to live-the way I want, with dignity, with courage, with humor, with composure." pg 22
Morrie isn't going to let his illness determine the way he lives the life he has left. He isn't going to let the disease control him. He is going to choose to live his last days according to his own agenda , while making the best of it.

"Sometimes,in the mornings, that's when I mourn . I feel around my body, I move my fingers and my hands-whatever I can still move-and I mourn what I've lost. I mourn the slow, insidious way in which I'm dying. But then I stop mourning." pg 57
Instead of feeling sorry for himself, he's choosing to be positive about it all.
He realizes that the disease is taking over his body,but there is nothing he can do about it. It's just what happens to some people. So he makes it a point not be in a state of self-pity because that doesn't do anyone any good.

" Mitch, the culture doesn't encourage you to think about such things until you're about to die." pg 64
In our culture we tend not to speak about death and illness until it hits us in the face. Even then we still might avoid talking about it. It makes us uncomfortable because it's such a touchy subject.

I think that this book shows a different approach of dealing with death and illness. It offers insights on illness and death that are interesting to think about. It shows that death doesn't have to be seen as a scary thing. It can be seen as a life changing experience ,but in a positive way. Without self-pity or withdrawing from the world, like the people around us or the experience as a whole. Living life with an illness doesn't mean your life has to stop. You can still enjoy life which is a much healthier way of dealing with it all.