Journeying through life with Mitch Albom

It all started on a rainy evening more than five years ago. I’d just about returned from a hectic day at work. Pretty beat from my drive through torrential rains, thunder and lightning I felt the need to unwind. I logged onto my computer system hoping to catch up with some friends online. To my dismay, the broadband connection was down because of the rain and I was left with no other option than to flip channels on TV until I could find something worth watching.

The screen flashed - Coming up next, “Tuesdays with Morrie” whilst I was flipping thought Hallmark Channel so I finally settled down to watch that. The title of the movie aroused some amount of curiosity in me. Whilst Oprah Winfrey was doing an introduction to the movie, I went into the kitchen to serve myself some food, and settled comfortably onto the couch waiting for the movie to begin.

I was fascinated with it right from the beginning. The titles started with a scene of an old man waltzing by himself oblivious of the world around him. The scene touched a chord in me. I sat through the entire movie, enraptured and yet very emotionally volatile. There were moments where I laughed, and moments when I sobbed, but most of all, there were moments of enlightenment and breakthrough that I’d never experienced before. It was during this movie I realized how much unnecessary baggage I was holding onto and making my life so much harder than it needed to be. I learnt the importance of love, forgiveness and the beauty of living life to the fullest. This movie opened my heart and gave me the courage to love again.

It was much later that I bought the book, and read it, which of course was a lovely experience, but the initial impact of the movie always stayed in my mind.

Time flew by, and life went on as usual. Almost two years later, life hit me with a serious blow. My Dad passed away very suddenly. He and I always had our differences, we hardly ever saw eye to eye on anything. In fact, we were barely in touch towards the end. One fine evening I got the news that he’d had a massive heart attack and wasn't going to make it, but before I could get there to say my final goodbye he was gone.

There were, of course, a lot of unresolved issues between my Dad and me. I was living in some kind of a limbo after his death all through the journey from Sholapur to Mumbai, the funeral, and the days that followed. The unresolved issues I had with Dad tormented me. There were questions that needed answers, but he wasn’t around anymore to give me those answers. My black hole of limbo got a lot darker and heavier than when it’d all started. When I was leaving Mumbai, I left with a huge burden of unanswered questions that were weighing me down.

On the way back home, my flight from Mumbai to Bangalore was delayed indefinitely. To pass time I went to the Crossword store at the Airport. To my delight I found Mitch Albom’s new book “For One More Day”. I picked it up without even looking at the synopsis of the book and settled down to read it with a glass of beer at the airport restaurant.

I had absolutely no clue about the subject of the book, but as I read one chapter after another, the burden I'd carried since my father's death began to evaporate slowly. Even my breathing became a lot easier than it had been for more than a week. I’d like to believe, the indefinite flight delay, seeing this particular book on the bookstand, picking it up without so much as seeing what ‘twas all about; whatever happened that evening happened only because I needed it to happen to me at that point in time. I’d like to believe that whenever I need to learn an important and life altering lesson in life, I somehow learn it from one of Mitch Albom’s books.

The story of Charles and his mother Pauline, his misconceptions about how she let him down when in reality, he was the one letting her down every time. About how Charles didn’t tell his mother often enough that he loved her, about all the times he didn’t stand up for her, and most of all the one extra day he got with the spirit of his mother, where they mended their relationship, or rather he sought redemption. This entire story hit home hard!

"For One More Day" opened my eyes to the reality of my relationship with my Dad. It made me realize that I’d never really given him a chance at all. I’d had these unrealistic expectations of our relationship, and when it turned out differently, I just shut him out! "For One More Day" taught me forgiveness and acceptance. It taught me to make peace with my circumstances and move on!

A little over a year ago life took a drastic turn. Things that shouldn’t happen to anyone, happened to me. I was shocked, angry and bitter. Most of all, I lost faith and hope. I was losing everything I grew up believing as quickly as a person drowning into quicksand and was very close to getting into a depression. Sometimes I feel being hopeless is worst than dying of cancer. It was then, that I saw this book called “Have a little faith”, and once again, Mitch Albom came to my rescue. His book gave me hope and helped me restore my faith just in time.

Mitch Albom has a way of being profound without being preachy. Each of his books has touched my soul and has found ways into my life when I needed them the most. I can’t imagine what life would’ve been like without those books being there to guide me and teach me life’s most important lessons of Love, Forgiveness, Hope and Faith.

Earlier this year, when a close friend of mine gave me my second copy of "Have a little Faith" autographed by Mitch Albom, and a message written by him. His message said "Dear Alisha, Always have faith!" I instantly knew that God was looking out for me through Mitch Albom's books.