This is my first book for the year which I was able to download today thru the internet. Last December, I bought a copy of this book as a gift for a friend and though I wanted one badly for myself, I restrained myself and figured I would just get an ebook not just to save up on expenses but also on space because I don’t have anymore space on my shelf. And so today, I was finally able to download an e-book and I placed it in my Samsung Corby phone so that whenever I have available free time I can start reading. I will update you on the book’s story as I go along.
But first let me tell you why this is the book I chose to read. Actually I have long been a fan of Mitch Albom, ever since I have read his book – The Five People You Meet in Heaven. It’s a very good book which I was able to read in just one sitting. I know I haven’t been able to make a review/post about it in this blog, but maybe someday when I reread it, I will. And so ever since, I have been on the lookout for more books by Mitch Albom and this one title caught my attention since last year because it was touted as a good book to give for moms on Mother’s Day and so it tickled my interest, eventually I found out why.
The story is actually about a ghost and how a son was given the chance to spend one more day with his mother who was then already dead. It tells the story of Chuck Benetto who grew up idolizing his father who just went off and left them. As an adult, he begins to realize the many times he has taken his mom for granted though she has stood up for him many times in the past. Then he makes one final mistake when he (once again) chose his long-absentee father only to return home and find his own mother dead. And so, he ends up a broken man, with a myriad of problems in his career, family life, languishing in alcohol and regrets.
He finally decides to take his own life and on that fateful day, he takes a midnight drive back to his hometown but upon entering their old house, he finds his mother there (eight years dead), puttering about in the kitchen as if nothing has changed. He then spends the entire day with his mother and he gains valuable insights into their relationship which he failed to see before and others which his loving mother shielded him from ever knowing so as to keep his youthful view of his life and family intact. He learns how his mother worked hard (despite the downsides of their society to a divorcee) to put both him and his sister through college, how she patiently stood by him even if she disagreed with his decision to stop studying college and embark on a baseball career (because it was what his father wanted).
He was also able to admit to her the reasons for his absence during the last birthday she spent before she died. How he lied to her about a client meet-up when actually it was for another ‘baseball game’ for oldies that his father set-up for him so that he could once again get his foot back inside the ‘big leagues’ so to speak. But in the end he failed to do what his father wanted – return to baseball (even as a coach or a trainer) because he realized it wasn’t really his dream to live, but his father’s. And in the course of wanting his father to return his love, he desperately tried to live a life that wasn’t meant for him…
Chuck regretted not being there when his mother died for the rest of his life and he was finally given one more day to be with her. His mother also made him realize many more previously unknown factors from his childhood – including the reason why his father suddenly left them. It turned out that he had another family, a previous wife he married during the war when he thought he wouldn’t make it out alive which is why his mother decided to cut the ties between them - for good. And with that one fateful day, he was given the chance to understand everything about his seemingly failed relationships. But most of all, that one day gave him the chance to resolve issues in his family and get his life back on track.
In the end, Chuck was revived by a police officer at the scene of the accident and his experience with his mother at their house seemed just like a dream to him. But what matters was that it inspired him to quit drinking, reconcile with his family, and do things he may have failed to do. It’s a very inspiring story, a bit like the fatalistic movie, If Only, but with a different twist. The two stories main underlying message is how one should cherish the time spent with loved ones because you may never get a chance to show the person how much he or she means to you. In If Only, the story revolved around lovers Sam and Ian and how they spent one perfectly enchanted day before the other one dies. This time though the story revolved around a mother and how she shows that even through death, her love for him remains eternal.
P.S. I was not really able to read the ebook on my phone as I had originally planned because the fonts were a bit small and it was difficult to navigate the book using the Corby and so when I was able to buy the Samsung Galaxy Tab 7 Plus, I immediately installed the e-book and was able to finish reading the book one weekend we were at BP (Jan 28-29). It was that good, you just can’t put it down without finishing the entire story.
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