9

How should we live? This is a very easy question that Morrie Schwartz would answer. In Tuesdays with Morrie, Morrie is teaching one of his old students, Mitch Albom, about how to live.

"Learn to die, and you learn to live."

My father passed away in 2007 from multiple myeloma, a cancer that affected his bone marrow. Before he passed away, I took him for granted. I always believed that I would have my parents forever, and that in the future, my own children would be able to know their grandparents.

I can remember the morning that my mother told me that he was gone. It was so hard for me to believe. I didn't want to accept the truth. On December first, a part of me died.

As I read Tuesdays with Morrie, I kept thinking back to my dad. Reading what Morrie had to say about spending time with loved ones made me realize that I don't want to make the same mistake. My mom is perfectly healthy right now, but I don't want her passing away at a young age like my father did. I don't want to take advantage of my mom being in my life. I want to cherish every moment that I have with her.

It's only when we lose someone that we realize that we should have spent more time with them. Why is it only after a death that we realize this? It doesn't look "weak" to say "I love you." Loving people can only make you stronger. Material things like laptops and big screen televisions aren't going to be by a death bed mourning. Human beings are the only ones who can mourn.