TUESDAYS WITH MORRIE.....

Morrie Schwartz, Played by Jose Mari Avellana.....






Mitch Albom, Played by Bart Guingona.....






Just The Two of Us.....














There are certain books that I consider thought provoking and inspirational. Usually, these kinds of books appeal to our human emotions. The kind that tugs at your heart's strings and makes you open up to feel the gist of the story. Such books leave a lasting mark on the reader. The kind that makes one adapt the teachings that the book offers. A modern day addition to the great book, The Bible.

Mitch Albom is a writer that I didn't know about. I collect hardbound books as a hobby. Among my collection of books are a leather bound and signed copies of books 1-4 of "Harry Potter" by J.K. Rowling that came as a boxed set; a hardbound boxed set of "Lord of The Rings" trilogy which contained illustrations by Allan Lee and written by J.R.R. Tolkien; some rather recent releases of spy fiction books by Robert Ludlum (I didn't know the guy has been dead for quite sometime now!); some mystery novels of James Patterson; the rest of the "Harry Potter" series that are for commercial release until Book 7; Dan Brown's "Angels and Demons" and "Da Vinci Code"; numerous photography books, a number of travel guides that focus on European countries and a lone John Maxwell book.

Successive deaths in my first cousin's family (they lost my uncle, two of his sons and a son in law in a span of five years) made me contemplate about my own life. And then one day, when I went to Powerbooks, I saw a title of a book which struck me, "The Five People You Meet in Heaven" and written by Albom. What a rather eye catching title to name a book! I soon found out that the book was even adapted and turned into a movie to be shown on television. Since the book topped the Bestsellers list, I bought it and read it. I did enjoy reading it but there were parts of the book that bored me, I don't know why but I felt bored! In my opinion, the book's pace dragged a little. I then came across a hardbound, second hand but mint copy of his first book entitled "Tuesdays with Morrie" at a thrift bookshop and immediately bought it. And this was a better read!

This book falls into the category of books that I wrote about at the start of this page. It tells about Mitch's encounter with his former sociology teacher at Brandeis Univeristy, Morrie Schwartz who suffered from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or Lou Gehrig's disease, a neurodegenerative disease which affects the cells of the brain and the spinal cord. It has two stories that mesh together. The first, the depiction of Morrie's suffering from ALS and his outlook about life while having the disease as he was being interviewed by Ted Koppel in Nightline. The second, Mitch's own relationship with Morrie, his mentor at Brandeis University and the way Mitch perceives how Morrie deals with his situation.

It was rather a subtle performance to watch. There were no other people on stage except the two. As Guingona plays the writer Albom, he also has to narrate portions of the act. There were no set changes. The play relied on the subtle positioning of the stage lights to indicate a change in time and place. It was fascinating to watch the interaction between the two great actors. They were so convincing in their portrayal of their roles that I was surprised to see Guingona shed real tears in the most dramatic scene! And the funny thing was that even we, the photographers who were shooting the rehearsal, were actually shedding tears that we have to pause for a moment as the water in our eyes started to blur our vision.

In the end, we were ribbing our colleagues who cried like a baby. I guess they can't help it as their current situation may be close to the plot, that of having someone close to them who are suffering from a terminal disease and have to be looked after.

I do recommend the book. It may be a heavy read for others and thus not to their liking but for those who seek some inspiration in the most trying time such as sickness and impending death, then this book might be it for you.