The Five People You Meet in Heaven

"All the people you meet here have one thing to teach you." Eddie was skeptical. His fists stayed clenched. "What?" he said. "That there are no random acts. That we are all connected. That you can no more separate one life from another than you can separate a breeze from the wind."

I read Mitch Albom's The Five People You Meet in Heaven right at a pivotal point in my life, and can't imagine that a better book could have landed in my hands right when I needed it. Wiki actually has a content rich summary and analysis of the book, and I really don't think I could produce anything better then what is produced HERE. Browse the site for more details on themes, characters and interpretations.

I am thankful that I read this book as explores how our stories and lives are interwoven, and each of us imperfect beings may experience and give a legacy of forgiveness to each other. I read this book shortly after my father died, and though I loved him dearly and deeply I had a few unresolved feelings to work through. Well, mainly being the out-there daughter of a very religious, quiet and reserved person can lend itself to a few communication issues. Albom's book landed in my hands and it really and truly was a book that enabled me to become a "better" person if you want to call it that. One that could look at issues at a deeper level and look at the human heart in all of its glory and weaknesses. Ah, oh so thankful.

This book isn't really about dying, but more about the living and what we give each other. A Six Degrees in a way, showing both the good and bad of our human experience, and the ability to reconcile with each other and with our emotions.

I finished this book curled up in a ball and crying my eyes out, and I'd firmly rate it as a five-tissue read out of five. But it is one of those books that you read and walk around absorbing for days, the thoughts and characters now entrenched in your own mind. I'm happy to say I feel I was all the better for it. I don't know if books can make us "badder" or "gooder" people, but I found that I was deeply moved by the content in this book in my own life.

So I'm thankful for Five People, and thankful that I read it. I find that though it isn't a "Green" read, it is one that Greener readers may surely enjoy.