From the author made famous by "Tuesdays with Morrie" and "Five People You meet in Heaven", this is yet another philosophical not to mention inspirational piece exploring the inner conscience/true feelings of a person before his death.
Starting with a tagline "Every family is a ghost story", this book is about the life and death decision of Charley "Chick" Benetto who was about to kill himself after his life was wrecked apart and at the final straw when his only daughter did not invite him to her wedding for fear of disgrace.
He tried many ways to kill himself and yet decided to take one last journey back to his old house where he grew up before his departure.
It was there that he met his mom; a woman whom he had seen buried and covered with flowers at the funeral.
He could not believe it; and yet he saw his mother.
From then on, we were taken on a journey backward while Chick recalled all the memories with his mother; which to his surprise were not very memorable as he recalled the times his mother had stood by him and he, on the other hand, well, failed her.
As a child, Chick was told by his father “You can be a mama’s boy or a daddy’s boy, but you can’t be both.”
So he chose his father and was later disappointed when his father just walked out on his life as he was approaching adolescence.
He was embarassed by his mother and constantly blamed her for his father's disappearance.
The writing was pretty simple and comprehensible for any age.
In fact, it was a story told so many times that we just did not take much notice into the true underlying issue or reminder in our lives.
It was a heart-warming tale of how Chick re-explored his relationship with a mother whom he never knew and yet one of the greatest love of all.
It was a tale of compassion; whereby we are all reminded of our time on earth and with the people we love.
To me, I was truly touched and in fact, I have even gained a different perspective/new light into my own family relationships.
I have even conjured up my very own list of the times my dad/mum/bro stood up for me and the times I did/didn't stand up for them.
It is at this time that you feel guilty and realized how far you have come and how much they weigh in your life.
Chick had lost his mum without him even having the chance to make any amendment; and in fact, he never even got to see his mother before her very last breath because he made up an excuse and prioritized another event.
How many times have we actually failed our very own family by putting them as second priority to our work/love relationship/event/friends, etc?
How many times have we said 'I Love you' to the person next to you and your siblings/parents?
When you are given one more day, you will find that all you ever want is for time to turn back for you to change and to give it another chance to do it even better.
But why do we need to look for a chance to turn back time (which we know will never happen) when we can do it today?
Why put off to future something we can do today?
I certainly do not want to wait for one more day to tell my family; especially both my parents how much I love them.
It is today that we see them and we should be with them and stand up for them all the time.
I do not want to have a list in which I look back and say, "Those are the times I did not stand up for my mum/dad"
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