HW 22 - Illness & Dying Book Part 1

The book I was assigned to read was, “tuesdays with Morrie” by Mitch Albom. It was published in 1997 by Random House.

Précis: ‘The Audiovisual’: a chapter about an interview at Morrie’s house by the popular and famous Ted Koppel, the host of ABC-TV’s “Nightline”.

·         Gems: Personal meet before interview and Morrie’s perspective of death.

·         Thoughts: Morrie is a strong person. He has lots of hope and knows he will be ok.

Quotes:

1.      “He had refused fancy clothes or makeup this interview. His Philosophy was that death should not be embarrassing; he was not about to power its nose.” (pg 21) I agree with Morrie because I think that death is not embarrassing. Death is a part of life. When he says,” he was not about to power its nose”, it means that he is not hiding the fact that he will die. Morrie doesn’t believe in hiding his illness on the contrary, he wants people to see him for who he is and what he looks like.

2.      “Because Morrie sat in the wheelchair, the camera never caught his withered legs. And because he was still able to move his hands-Morrie always spoke with both hands waving-he showed great passion when explaining how you face the end of life.” (pg 21)   The way that this is written makes it look almost as if they were trying to hide his legs. His legs represent how ill he is and the only thing being captured is his upper body. Yes he speaks with passion but why only tape his upper body? If there is acceptance why not show how ill he is being that he didn’t chose to wear make-up or fancy clothes.

3.      “When all this started, I asked myself, ‘Am I going to withdraw from the world, like most people do, or am I going to live?’ I decided I’m going to live-the way I want, with dignity, with courage, with humor, with composure.” (pg 21)  I liked this quote a lot. I chose it because this quote shows Morrie’s perspective on the way he thinks is living properly. He doesn’t necessarily mean he will live as in he wont die but he is referring to living in hope not by withdrawing himself. Morrie shows a lot of courage because normally the majority of people aren’t too peaceful about knowing their death is coming.

4.      “There are some mornings when I cry and cry and mourn for myself. Some mornings, I’m so angry and bitter. But it doesn’t last too long. Then I get up and say, ‘I want to live . . .’ (pg 21) Even though Morrie is acceptant towards his death it does not change the fact that he is human. He may be strong and keep positive to keep him going longer but truth is everyone is scared to die. It is normal for one to still be upset because their day will come sooner as opposed to those who are not sick.

Wrap up: A connection I have with these quotes is Erik. Morrie and Erik are both similar people. They both want to be accepted as a normal human being even though they are ill. They don’t want to feel useless. “Yet he refused to be depressed. Instead, Morrie had become a lightning rod of ideas.” (pg 20) This quote in particular connects with Erik’s positive attitude. Erik liked to paint and Morrie jotted ideas. In their own ways they liked to share their opinions on how the last moments before death are.   The message I can imply in both cases is Beth’s, which is: "Treat everyone one as what they are, a human being, no matter their position". 

Comments to post: Expert#1

**What i posted on bryanna's blog:  "The killer phrase that caught my attention was,"Another point that I think that was good was the fact that she did not have anyone but herself takd care of her husband. Because this is a time where families should be together and spend all time you can with each other.I think that only person/people that should see you at your worst is the people close to you." To me i can see where you are coming from and find it to be true. Death is a stage of your life that should be filled with the last memories being with you family. I cant relate to josh and Ean's son to father relationship because i don't have my father now. Although my dad played a huge role in my life from the day i was born to the age of 7. I was daddy's little girl. Therefore i can partially understand the pain they went through. Beth's love for Erik was immense and i respect her journey with Erik through his death. What i don't seem to understand are her final feelings. Why do you think she didn't cry that much? Can you relate to her emotions or think she was rather "cold"? Do think she is an existentialist or transcendentalist person?"

Note: bry was only t/w member in my group with blog.

** Posted by my mentor: "I like the term "dinner husband". I've never heard it before but I knew exactly what it meant. I like that you contrasted your family dynamic with Beth's. I'd like to hear more about those differences why and how it was harder for Josh than for Beth. Keep up the good work."


**Posted by lily, my younger person: i liked the quote that said "Treat everyone one as what they are, a human being, no matter their position" because i feel that everyone should be treated equally and everyone should be treated right no matter what they have done in the past or how they are acting. everyone is human and we all make mistake and should be forgive for them and shouldn't be treated badly.

Expert #1

1. Intense artist  http://www.erikwood.com/unchartedwatersmovie.html
2. Moved quickly: love at first sight, lived in apartment together, married after 4 years, decided to have family 2 boys Josh and Ean.
3. Together 24/7
4. Diagnosed with kidney cancer on thanksgiving 2006
5. Couldn't get insurance
6. "Why is that asshole still walking when my dad is dead." josh
7. He wanted to pretend he was going to "beat it"
8. "Treat everyone one as what they are, a human being, no matter their position"
9. Vacation
10. Death signs leading to his death. 

Viewing Erik’s website which is http://www.erikwood.com/unchartedwatersmovie.html , I found it to be very interesting being that I am a little artist myself. Beth Bennett was correct when she said he was an intense artist. His last paintings were very strong. They all depict different things. There are many so I won’t talk about all but about some that struck me. One of them is 2 fishes kissing. One with a woman face and one with a man face. I interpreted it as Beth and Erik’s last kiss. Some fishes are closing their eyes and I feel like those portray death because a dead fish has their eyes shut. Then there were two with baby faces, I feel like those represent his two children, Ean and josh. Humans "swim" through the "ocean of suffering" without fear, just like a fish swims through water. In general I see it as a human/fish swimming through water symbolizing that humans "swim" through the "ocean of suffering" without fear. Erik saw himself as a fish because he didn’t fear what was ahead of him. He found himself taking on these challenges as a part of life. 

"He was not a dinner husband because we were together 24/7". I found this to be super interesting. I have family but I don’t think I am as united. I am not with them 24/7, nor do I want to be. I feel like I need my space. I get bored easily, so spending so much time with someone is not something I would do. She was right about it being love at first sight. They settled quickly. They were each other’s right hand one another. Together they raised a strong family. Beth, Ean, and josh were very strong. A death isn’t something easy to deal with. It’s hard to let go, in my perspective. "Why is that asshole still walking when my dad is dead?" (Josh) josh demonstrates how it affected him so much, he hasn't let go of his father which is understandable. They were best friends. After spending 24/7 with someone I would imagine for it to be hard once you don't. For Beth though, it wasn't as hard. 

  The lesson that I got from this touching and admiring story was that you "treat everyone one as what they are, a human being, no matter their position they are in". This is a good lesson because sometimes we look down upon other people. We shouldn't judge a book by their cover. One shouldn't be judged by their race, religion, color, height, weight, class, job, etc. Beth proves you can go a long way when you respect everyone because as a whole we are human beings. Through this respect she was able to get insurance and everything she wanted. Everyone loved them even the radiologists would let them go up front all the time. This was a great advantage to Erik and his family. I have a great admiration for both. For Beth because she was able to deal with all this yet peacefully deal with her husband's death. You can tell she loved him dearly. And for Erik because he was strong and never gave up. He accepted everything that came his way without complaining. They are a great example of how one should be united with family not after an illness but always just like them