Tuesday, April 17, 2007

the FIVE people I will meet in heaven

I wonder who are the FIVE people I will meet in heaven.

I am glad I finally managed to get the book at quite a low $10 price although it is a second hand book. I also bought Freakonomics at the same price from the same guy. He will return to his home country soon and can't afford to bring all his books back.

So, I spent last week reading this book instead of studying for my papers *hah? what paper you say? yah I also think I don't have any papers -___-''
The story was written in an easily digestible style, and each chapter comes with a lesson. The same reason why I like JDorama. Some lessons are so taken for granted that we do not realize the values, and yet Mitch Albom managed to provoke me with this.

Do not continue reading if you have yet to read the book and plan to read it some time in the near future.

This is a spoiler k.
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Obviously, you don't mind me spoiling some parts of the story.

Eddie is the main character and this book tells his journey in heaven, with a great capture of his past life and how the five characters he met might not necessarily someone he knows. This is the story... on how our lives entangled with others.

Lesson ONE from the Blue Man:

"My funeral," the Blue Man said. "Look at the mourners. Some did not even know me well, yet they came. Why? Did you ever wonder? Why people gather when others die? Why people feel they should?

"It is because the human spirit knows, deep down, that all lives intersect. That death doesn't just take someone, it misses someone else, and in the small distance being taken and being missed, lives are changed. ...

One withers, another grows. Birth and death are part of a whole.

"It is why we are drawn to babies..." And to funerals."

--And this Blue Man and Eddie do not know each other. Eddie was eight when the Blue Man died in a car accident.

"Strangers," the Blue Man said, " are just family you have yet to come to know."


Lesson TWO from the Captain:

"SACRIFICE," the Captain said. "You made one. I made one. We all make them. But you were angry over yours. You kept thinking about what you lost.

"You didn't get it. Sacrifice is part of life. It is supposed to be. It's not something to regret. It's something to aspire to.

...

"Sometimes when you sacrifice somehting precious, you're not really losing it. You're just passing it on to someone else."

Lesson THREE from the Pier's wife, Ruby:

"Learn this from me. Holding anger is a poison. It eats you from inside. We think that hating is a weapon that attacks the person who harmed us. But hatred is a curved blade. And the harm we do, we do to ourselves.

"Forgive, Edward. Forgive. ...


Lesson FOUR from the wife, Marguerite:

"Lost love is still love, Eddie. It takes different form, that's all. You can't see their smile or bring them food or tousle their hair or move them around a dance floor. But when thsoe senses weaken, anotehr heightens. Memory. Memory becomes your partner. You nurture it. you hold it. You dance with it.

"Life has to end," she said. "Love doesn't."


Lesson FIVE from the little girl, Amy:

"I was sad because I didn't do anything with my life. I was nothing. I accomplished nothing. I was lost. I felt like I wasn't supposed to be there. "

"Supposed to be there," she said.

"Where? At Ruby Pier?"

She nodded.

"Fixing rides? That was my existence?," He blew a deep breathe. "Why?"

She tilted her head, as if it was obivious.

"Children," she said. "You keep them safe, you make good for me."

"Is where you supposed to be," she said, and then she touched his shirt patch with a a small laugh and added two words, "Eddie Main-ten-ance."

...

There was a pier filled with thousands of people, man and women, fathers and mothers and children - so many children- children from the past and the present, children who have not yet been born, side by side, hand in hand, in caps, in short pants, filling the boardwalk and the rides and the wooden platforms, sitting on each other's shoulders, sitting in each other's laps. They were there, or would be there, because of the simple mundane things Eddie had done in his life, the accidents he has prevented, the rides he had kept safe, the unnoticed turns he had affected every day. ...

***

Mitch Albom wrote this book in dedication to his beloved uncle, Edward Beitchman, whogave him the first concept of heaven. Every Thanksgiving, he always spoke of a night in the hospital when he awoke to see the souls of his departed loved ones sitting on the edge of the bed, waiting for him.

Seriously a great book to read. Makes me appreciate what I have even more. And surely, things happen for a reason.

So now...next on my waitlist:
- Freakonomics
- Chicken Soup - 2 books *haven't finished ler..
- The boy called It *it's been so long since I try to borrow the book. Anyone?
- Tuesdays with Morrie *another book by Mitch Albom, who wrote about his Professor. Do you guys have this?
- Ukraine - the Bradt Guide *Thanks Lele for the book :)
- any good recommendation...??


****

Have yet to receive my letter till today. Afraid I may have to wait till Friday coz apparently the Embassy was closed for 4 days due to Easter.

Called the travel agent again, and the airline cancelled my flight for the third times *hahaha*. OK, final deadline is Friday, 12 noon to issue the ticket.

Hm...have filled in my Turkey and Czech visa application form. But the problem: Do I have time to apply for this? Turkey takes 3 days, Czech takes 5 days. Even if I pay more and go the 'Express' way for Ukraine... I don't have time to apply all three. How?

****

Oww yah, my super duper sincere gratitude to Lele, Won Jang *this time I got it right ^^, and my AIESEC in NTU members. You guys are amazingly sweet heh.

Lele... Y'know I'm gonna need the guide so much for my trip, and a cozy soft pillow to snuggle with. Accompanies by a sweet card *not shown in the pic*. To ce lei wor wahaha am blessed to have you as my roomie too.


A 'Thanks' card with messages from some of my members. Thanks much all....my journey won't be complete without your presence too. It's indeed great to be an LCP.


And not to be missed *although I have yet to take a pic with me wearing it*, THANKS MUCH Won for the @jacket. So sweet and thoughtful of you *yes, Ukraine is defintiely cooler than Singapore* to bring it over to India from Korea. Thanks Shub for bringing it back from India too.
Will post the pic as promised k.

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