“FOR ONE MORE DAY, who would you choose and why?

Maybe Mitch Albom hits a sweet spot for me resulting from my Detroit days, or maybe it was his well written heart tugging “TUESDAY'S WITH MORRIE", a chronicle of Morrie's life experiences coupled with Morrie's outlook on life as his lived out his final fourteen weeks on earth with ALS.

“TUESDAY'S WITH MORRIE" grabbed a hold of us who had the privilege of reading about this learned, sweet unassuming gentle man, and absorbed his words taken from conversations with Albom a former student of his. He never lost sight of what was truly important in life even while dying.

I read this book secretly in the “water closet” shortly after Jack was diagnosed with Bulbar ALS… a task not easy to do. But, despite the agony of losing my husband to this untreatable disease I knew Morrie and Jack were not unalike in their celebration of life, and the way they had lived it. Both were educators, both were mentors, and both relished each new day to explore the unknown, and to laugh and love, and to encourage, support and let their family know they were thoroughly loved and respected.

In some twisted way, reading “TUESDAY'S WITH MORRIE" brought me peace, and I believe the same held true for Jack when he was able to tackle the read.

While packing, I came across my old friend Morrie, and thought about Mitch's books "THE FIVE PEOPLE YOU MEET IN HEAVEN" and “FOR ONE MORE DAY”, and paused for thought. Who would I want to spend one more day with? Yes, without a doubt Jack would be on the top of my list. I learned so much from this amazing man, and know he could grace me with additional knowledge. And, to see his smile, the twinkle in his eyes, to feel his touch would be unbelievable… but, the pain would be to overbearing, and I have moved beyond accepting his passing while being thankful for the blessing of our time together… and, forever will treasure this special time in my life.

So, then whom would I like to spend one more day with? Couldn’t it be with someone I have never met, but admire? Ah, it is a no brainier; it would be Leonardo da Vinci. Was there anything this man couldn’t do? Paintings, drawings and sculptures, movements of the human figure, he carried notebooks in which he scribbled down ideas and opinions as they occurred - personal, domestic, scientific, philosophical, artistic - frequently accompanied by explanatory sketches. Architecture, engineering, geology, hydraulics and the military arts intrigued him. He was brilliant, way ahead of his time, and I would even learn Italian to share a day with him.

What about you, who would you choose and why?

AJ

 

JOHNNY DEPP BABY!!!!!

I have no explanation as to why.

 

Without a doubt I would spend it with my niece's son Nicholas, who I never got to meet. He lived for 3 months, and never left the hospital. I would love to spend a day with him so that he would know that there was one more person in his life who loved him dearly, even though we never knew each other. I would like the chance to tell him all about the family he left behind, and the brothers who came after him.

Vicki

 

My Mother! She was always my support system and boy, could I use her support now!

 

my wife about 5 years before I met her

or for a famous person....Jesus, Abraham Lincoln or Error Flynn

 

Wow, some really interesting choices folks.

I think we all have a family member we would love to reconnect with, I know my list would include a few.

Jim funny you mentioned your wife, M would love to have been around me in my prime just to see my red hair! He loves red heads! Guess an aging red head doen't cut it since the red has "left the building!" ;D

Thanks everyone for your input, let us see more posts please.

AJ

 

It would be my dad. I would like to have one more day fishing at Maggies Cove.

Lee

 

my dad taught me how to swim in a river in the country.

i miss my dad

 

Ohhhhhhhhhh I took this as my last day on earth.


Best I go back to the Dumbass club and veg. ;D

 

Definatly my mom.She passed away 4 years ago and my son was 7.He was her shining star.She would call him her angel and so desperatly wanted to watch him grow.She always said that he will be something and she wanted to see it.My mom was pretty bed ridden at the end but,would play with him on her bed with every breath she had.
My mom had emphazema and ended up on a resperator and I was torn as to let my son see her.I asked her and she cried and shook her head no and I am sure it was because she did not want him to remember her like that.She wrote on a piece of paper that she needed to be here for her angel(my son) and held on so hard but,couldn't fight anymore.She passed away holding his picture.

I wish I had just one day with my mom so she can see what a fine young man my son is today and it's all because of her.

If you don't mind,I would like to share a poem she wrote him that now hangs in his room:


I call this boy MY ANGEL,
he has been from the start.
For he put a smile on my face
and warms my inner heart.

He comes through the door
and hides behind a chair.
He wants me to think he didn't come
But I know he's there.

Then it's off to the toy box
that's in the family den
and from the corner of my eye
I look and say,"Oh not again"
for I know what's in the box
those little green army men!

Nanny,will you play with me?
comes across his lips
and I know if I say "no"
his hands go on his hips.

But why nanny?He will say
as his smile leaves his face
and,yes,he wins and soon
those are all over the place.

But he is my Grandson
whom I love so dear,
and I want himto remember me
when I am not here.

So,thank you "MARKIE"
for bringing me so much love and joy.
You are now and will always be
my very special boy......

 

What a sweet, sad, and touching post this is. It has really moved me. And what a beautiful poem, Kelly. AJ, I just want to give you the biggest hug right now for your story!

For me, I would love to spend one day with my mom before I was ever born, before she became the woman she has been for as long as I've known her, before the Bi-Polar and Anorexia took hold of her and ruined her sweetness, her innocence. I would love to see the true her, stripped of the diseases, preserved in her only time of wholesomeness. I would like to finally see myself in her.

Brooke

 

I read Tuesdays With Morrie when my good friend and co-worker was struggling with ALS.

If I had one more day with a loved one I would want to see my father who died when I was 4.

 

Kelly what a beautiful poem, and Nanny will always be there with "MARKIE" watching over him. Now she has become his guardian angel...

Brooke moms, (and Dads too), are always a special part of our lives, and I too wish you could have been with her during her better times. It is so difficult to accept and understand that illness can change to dynamics of those we love especially when we are too young to comprehend the complexities of their demons.

My Dad suffered many demons...

Stationed in Pearl Harbor later Midway, his WWII service was spent in subs fighting in the South Pacific... "The "Silent Service" was partially responsible for the U.S. bringing the war in the Pacific to a quicker close. Despite early nagging problems of defective torpedoes, the Submarine Force destroyed 1,314 enemy ships in the Pacific, representing fifty-five percent of all enemy ships lost and a total of 5.3 million tons of shipping."

I never knew the fun loving southern gentleman that won my Mom’s heart at a USO Canteen in Detroit asking her to marry him the same night they met. She an Eastern European Orthodox Jew, he a Southern Baptist… not exactly a marriage made in heaven or accepted by their families. Nor one to begin a “War Marriage” with the brightest of expectations when “Johnny came marching home.”

Dad was explosive, and no one knew what to expect his mood to be. To me, he was an abusive, mean spirited, dark alcoholic, a morphine addict, a man so troubled that even when he kicked the booze and drugs, he demeanor remained much the same. But, he was my father, and I understood he wasn't like other fathers, respecting or accepting this, (I am not sure which was more accurate); I desperately tried to please him. I loved him, he was my father, and that's what I was taught, love your father. We were like oil and water, and here 27 yeas after his death I realize he had no control over who he had become. He fought to protect our country, to protect me, and in his own unexpressive way loved me more than life, but sadly he didn't understand or like himself.

It would be a gift and an honor to have one day with this hero, my father before his darkness set in.

This thread has been an interesting one to say the least. It is apparent; parents are the majority of those we would all love to have one more day with. I have received several pm’s from members who preferred not to openly share. Their loss, and pain is so personal… their want for just one day is touching... each involved a parent. .

Adrienne

 

AJ - You always have thought provoking questions and I will respond to this before I write something silly in another one of your posts like I did with the one thread.

My mother - she died before I was 2 years old. It would be nice to spend a day with her if we were both grown up. I'd like to know in her own words that she cared about me and was happy with me in her life. I really never knew her.

 

I would spend it with ME, at the age of 16, knowing what I know now about life, and hopefully I would listen to ME,

 

An exceptional answer! I've often wished I could go back with what I know now... and kick my own a$$!! ;D

 

I am affraid despite being "older and wiser" ???, I would still falter. And, then too, I wouldn't be the person I am today if I could revisit and alter my past. :-\

Yep, there are some things I would like to "redo", but for the most part, I am happy with the results of who I am today.

AJ

 

Well, Jesus is out because I'll be spending eternity with him 8) There are some questions I have for him now, come to think of it.

I guess I'd have to say my mother (even though being with my father would probably be a whole lot easier).

I would tell her that I now understand what she went though with manic depression. I would tell her that I loved her and admired her for so many things. I would let her know that I "get it" about who she was, what she went through, and why she was the way she was. Then I would ask her why I inherited her bi-polar condition instead of her genius

 

My mom. God, I miss her. and she has missed so much. I would like to put her adorable great grandson into her arms and watch her face light up.

 

I'd spend my one last day with Eric. He's the demon-summoner for whose salvation I fast and pray. I've never met him in person but I'd like to before I die. As much as he and I have gone through, I want him with me in eternity.