Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom

Tuesdays with Morrie is a memoir about an old professor, his former student and the lesson of a lifetime. The professor is diagnosed with a terminal disease at the beginning of the book but that’s not what Tuesdays with Morrie is about. It’s about how Morrie lived and what each of us can learn from it.

Let’s start at the beginning. The author of this book, Mitch Albom was a student of Morrie Schwartz’s in the late 70s at Brandeis University in Massachusetts, USA. Theirs was a bond of mentorship instead of the usual teacher-student equation. But then, Morrie wasn’t the usual kind of teacher. Less concerned with grades and assignments, he cared more about sharing ideas and celebrating his community.

At his graduation, Mitch promised his professor, or ‘Coach’ as he called him, to keep in touch. He didn’t. Life and the usual rat race got in the way.

Fifteen years pass before Morrie is diagnosed with ALS or amyotrophic lateral sclerosis—a degenerative disease which results in the patient slowly losing control of their organs and limbs as the disease progresses, leading eventually to death. There is no cure.

“Morrie would walk that final bridge between life and death, and narrate the trip.”

Upon finding out about Morrie’s condition, Mitch, by then a thriving sports journalist, visits his professor. He finds their bond unchanged, but realises that his former teacher needs him more than ever. Thus, begin Mitch’s Tuesdays with Morrie.

Morrie is the sort of teacher we all want in our lives – one who believes in our gifts, helps us navigate the paths of life and face life’s eternal questions. One can’t help but envy Mitch for his beautiful relationship with such a generous and wise teacher. Albom’s words about his good fortune in finding a teacher like Morrie encapsulates their whole relationship,

"Have you ever really had a teacher? One who saw you as a raw but precious thing, a jewel that, with wisdom, could be polished to a proud shine? If you are lucky enough to find your way to such teachers, you will always find a way back. Sometimes it is only in your head. Sometimes it is right alongside their beds."

Sadly, in Mitch’s share also fell the regret of missing so many years with Morrie and the grief of his loss.

Tuesdays with Morrie has short chapters dealing with specific life lessons about aging, love, and death. These are interspersed with Mitch’s memories of his college days and other exchanges with his teacher.

Tuesdays with Morrie is narrated by Mitch but Morrie is the hero—one whose courage and grace shine through its pages. To be honest, large portions of the book that are too simplistic to be pithy, running the risk of being condemned as trite. However, the fact that it is based on the life of a real person dying of a terribly debilitating disease gives it a gravitas that a piece of fiction wouldn’t have had. 

Morrie remains, till his last breath, a positive and generous teacher, keen to discuss other people’s problems and help in whatever way he could. It’s what makes Tuesdays with Morrie both uplifting and touching. Spouting some spiel about living a simple life and appreciating others is neither novel nor challenging. We have WhatsApp forwards for that! But living each day in that spirit, especially during tough times, is a rarity.

My favourite chapters were conversations about how to deal with self-pity and the importance of community and creating one’s own culture instead of blindly following what society tells us is valuable or worth pursuing. In Morrie’s words,

“Devote yourself to loving others, devote yourself to your community around you, and devote yourself to creating something that gives you purpose and meaning.”

Tuesdays with Morrie was published in 1997, spending more than four years on bestseller lists. It remains a much-beloved book for many people across the world perhaps because it makes you pause. It makes you want to reassess your priorities in life, be more present, and take less for granted. It makes you wish everyone had a teacher like Morrie. And it makes you grateful his wisdom was immortalised in this book.