Unpacking Life’s True Meaning

Mitch Albom unveils a life after college that consists of great financial success; however, his life lacks an investment in relationships and true fulfillment. In Albom’s memoir, Tuesday’s With Morrie, Lou Gehrig’s disease consumes the life’s true meaning, By treasuring love and investing oneself in others, most individuals are able to live life to the fullest and accept the inevitability of death.

Morrie, a steadfast teacher submerged in a life threatening disease, shares his knowledge of the true meaning of life with Mitch. The teacher stresses that “the most important thing in life is to learn how to give out love, and to let it come in” to exemplify the significance of love (52). Learn not to take family for granted, for family offers the support, love, and concern that nothing else can. Morrie takes into account the genuine value of family and friends in affirming the need to “Invest in the human family. Invest in people. Build a little community of those you love and who love you (157).” Again and again throughout the memoir, Morrie indirectly proposes that our own culture lacks motivation toward the proper goals in life and suggests “Create your own” (35-36) culture. In knowing his proximity to demise, Morrie Continually learns to accept and make peace with death. He contends that “…once you learn how to die, you learn how to live” (82). To reveal that nature of death, the reader learns “Everything that gets born, dies” (173).

Mitch, a young living for financial success, acknowledges life’s true meaning through his once long lost friend, Morrie. His distant relationship with his brother and the deficiency in the relationship with his wife are replenished due to Morrie’s teachings. Morrie verifies, “Forgive yourself… Then forgive others” (165) so that Mitch will come to see the “past as past” (18) and accept what he can and cannot do. At one point, Morrie explains to Mitch that with one day of health, he would want a simple, average day to describe how perfect a gift that would be. Morrie’s aphorism, “Don’t let go too soon, but don’t hang on too long” (162) tells one not to give up and die, yet don’t delay death. The relationship between Morrie and Mitch sparks a change in the student so great that he would “…produce one long paper” (2) - this book - to give the audience a glimpse of a man living life to its fullest.

Morrie shares his lesson on life’s true meaning and the inevitability of death without books, taught solely through experience. It has come time to realize that the American dream does not involve true fulfillment in life; only a materialistic life ending in turmoil. Many fear death before they can understand that “Death ends life, not a relationship” (174) and that they will love on through the relationship they create