Tuesdays with Morrie

by Mitch Albom

“I heard a small sad sound, And stood awhile among the tombs around: ‘Wherefore, old friends,’ said I, ‘are you distrest, Now, screened from life’s unrest?’ —‘O not at being here: But that our future second death is near; When, with the living, memory of us numbs, And blank oblivion comes!’ ” —THOMAS HARDY, “THE TO-BE-FORGOTTEN”

I added this poem in the 20th anniversary edition. It is a haunting story about a man who hears voices beneath tombs, voices bemoaning “a second death” when memories of the buried soul fade and oblivion awaits. Morrie never read a word of “Tuesdays with Morrie.” But his legacy lives on. I think that is the biggest thing I have learned in the nearly three decades that have followed. That if you do things from the heart, that if you touch other people, that if you focus not on enriching yourself but on how you can enrich others, your legacy may be longer than you ever imagined. And you truly can go on after you’re gone. It’s a kind of immortality. I couldn’t think of a better legacy for Morrie. I hope wherever he’s “dancing free” now, that knowing it makes him smile.