The Five People You Meet in Heaven

I thought long and hard about what book to review today, because today is special.  It's my grandmother's 82nd birthday today.  Or it would be, but we lost her in August, 2016.  I miss her every day.  The more time has passed, the more I miss her.  There are things that have happened in my life that I want to tell her about.  There are things I want her advice about.  There are things that will happen in my life--marriage, children, a full-time non-hourly job--that she will never see.  And I feel like I'll never be able to live up to what she wanted me to be.  But then there's the little corner of my mind that pokes out and yells at me, in her voice, saying that all she wanted was for me to be happy.

Needless to say, I wanted to find something to honor her with today.

I thought about pulling a type of book that she liked from an author like Agatha Christie or Janet Evonovich.  She had a love for a murder mystery that got passed to my aunt, and not so much to me.  I love murder mystery televison, but murder myster books are hard for me to get through.  Then I thought about a book that emphasizes a relationship between a grandparent and grandchild, but that seemed too easy.  So I pulled The Five People You Meet in Heaven from it's spot on my bookshelf.  I hadn't read it before, but I got it after I read Tuesdays with Morrie by the same author, Mitch Albom.  I'd liked his writing style in the memoir--I found it easy to read, and just enough to bring emotion out, but in a soothing way.  A way that makes a reader realize something different.

The Five People You Meet in Heaven is the story of Eddie.  He's turning 83, and it's his last day on Earth, although he doesn't know it.  He fought in World War II (I assume.  We're never told directly, but he was in the Phillipines.), loved a girl, had a difficult relationship with his father, and works as the head of ride maintenence at Ruby Pier, an amusement park.  It's where he's worked since he was a boy, and as much a part of his life as anything else.  On this day, there's a potentially terrible accident coming, and Eddie rushes to make sure that a little girl is not in the way of a falling ride.  This selfless act takes his life.

When he gets to heaven, he meets a series of people who all help him to understand his life.  Each means something to him, although he doesn't know all of them.  Their lives all intersect, and the choices each of them made at different moments define who they are.  It's abook about understanding, and a book about, in some ways, forgiveness.  More than that, it's a book about acceptance.

I found that I rather liked Albom's idea of Heaven.  People who show you how your life has effected and been effected by others.  As I'm typing this, I can't help but wonder who I would meet, and who my grandmother may have.

Anyway.  For my Gran, who never left home without a book, go read something today, okay?