First Phone Call from Heaven

by Mitch Albom

For Debbie, a virtuoso with the telephone, whose voice we miss every day

The news of life is carried via telephone. A baby’s birth, a couple engaged, a tragic accident on a late-night highway—most milestones of the human journey, good or bad, are foreshadowed by the sound of ringing.

“The pain you go through in life doesn’t really touch you . . . not the real you. . . . You are so much lighter than you think.”

Miracles happen quietly every day—in an operating room, on a stormy sea, in the sudden appearance of a roadside stranger. They are rarely tallied. No one keeps score.

Faith, it is said, is better than belief, because belief is when someone else does the thinking.

She said the pain we suffer is a way to make us appreciate what comes next.”

“Fear is how you lose your life . . . a little bit at a time. . . . What we give to fear, we take away from . . . faith.”

There are two stories for every life; the one you live, and the one others tell.

Sometimes what you miss the most is the way a loved one made you feel about yourself.

“If you find one true friend in life, you’re richer than most. If that one true friend is your husband, you’re blessed.”

Desire sets our compass, but real life steers our course. Katherine Yellin had only wanted to honor her sister. Amy Penn had only wanted a big career. Elias Rowe had only wanted to run his business. Pastor Warren had only wanted to serve God. Desire set their compasses, but the events of the last sixteen weeks had steered them far off course.

Finally—and firstly—anything created by my heart or hand is from God, by God, through God, and with God. We may not know the truth about phones and heaven, but we do know this: in time, He answers all calls, and He answered mine.