It's NOT just me? Is it?

For one more day – by Mitch Albom

Once again, Mitch Albom has delivered a book that everyone can relate to!

He tells us: “This is a story about a family and, as there is a ghost involved, you might call it a ghost story. But every family is a ghost story. The dead sit at our tables long after they have gone.”

It is a story about loss and what that can do to someone ill equipped to address that loss. It is a story of someone searching for a reason to survive after rock bottom. Mitch Albom seems to ask, ‘Is there survival after rock bottom? Why?’

A poignant line says it all, “When death takes your mother, it steals (the word ‘Mom’) forever. And, the loss is greatest if no one ever appreciated the poor woman.” And, “How do you speak to the dead?”

Chick, our protagonist, eventually remembers his mother saying, “I did what mattered to me . . . I was a mother.”

This is a book also about dysfunctional families and divorce. There are many forms of loss. Chick’s thoughts on the affects of divorce upon children are very interesting and heart wrenching. But, our hero learns that he was not the only person in his family affected by divorce. He finally admits, “But it was my charming mother who was stuck.”

Ultimately, it is a book that deals with overwhelming guilt and finally growing up after 40. It is a statement about society. A bold comment about how we all treat one another. This book is a timeline of poor choices and as readers we are left wondering when enlightenment will rear its head. Or, if it ever will.

I would say that “for one more day” is definitely a book for people searching for answers to life’s more difficult questions – questions which we often forget to ask.

Mitch Albom begs readers never to forget, “When someone is in your heart, they’re never truly gone. They can come back to you even at unlikely times.”

Chick is told, “ ‘Your mom. She died.’ ” Then Albom tells us, “They are different than other words. They are too big to fit in your ears.”

I will never forget the line, “When you look at your mother, you are looking at the purest love you will ever know.” Sooooo true!

Mitch Albom’s “for one more day” is the best Mother’s Day book ever written!