Visit to Morrie’s house became a routine for Mitch every Tuesdays. Mitch committed himself to lend a helping hand toward caring for Morrie. The first time he lifts Morrie from his wheelchair to his armchair, he felt how the disease had made Morrie into dead weight, which made him so sad. In spite of his melancholic mood, Mitch decided to keep record of his discussions with Morrie in an attempt to keep his memory alive even after his death. This decision was in line with the desire of Morrie because he had started documenting his thought in the face of imminent death, and wish to teach the world on the essence of life even after his demise.
Despite his battle with death, Morrie was still committed towards externalizing his thought. He granted his second interview with Ted Koppel and continue to gain popularity even after the airing of the interview. On the fourth Tuesday, Mitch and Morrie talked about death, and Morrie shared some of his wisdom about creating personal culture by borrowing from different religions. He admitted he was closer to nature as death became imminent. Mitch to realised that Morrie craved human contact more and more as his health deteriorated further. Mitch, in his routine documentation of Morrie thought, talked on the importance of family and prompted Mitch to share the story of his brother, Peter, living in Spain and also battling pancreas cancer that killed his uncle
In several subsequent Tuesdays, Morrie’s health declined further. He was unable to use the toilet unassisted, and he is no longer capable of eating solid food. Despite not sleeping well due to coughing, he still insisted on seeing visitors. Charlotte, his wife, told Mitch that their visits gave Morrie purpose in light of his debilitating illness. Morrie and Mitch discussed how Morrie was dealing with his growing dependence on others by detaching from fear and other negative emotions, and he still managed to maintain perspective about aging. This could be attributed to thanks to his belief that aging is growth rather than decay.
Regardless of his illness, Morrie still demonstrated his ability to connect to Janine, a professional singer and a wife to Mitch. Morrie revealed his thoughts on marriage and why Mitch’s generation experiences so much divorce. His persuasion was hinged on his guiding beliefs of having compassion and understanding for one’s partner, and the essence of love. Morrie’s health worsen at every Tuesday Mitch visited, in spite of that, Morrie, spent his conclusive period of his life admonishing Mitch to be more sensitive and focus on people and not work, develop a unique culture and guiding principle.
On the fourteenth Tuesday, Morrie had been bedridden, his ill-health had knocked him down. Mitch wept profusely as he said goodbye to Morrie. Morrie died the next Tuesday and Mitch suggested he should be buried on Tuesday.
jimi Banjoko
