I got tired of browsing delish recipes on the Internet so I decided to read some books online. Trying to reminisce my College days, suddenly I remember a book that my professor used to say –The Five People You Meet in Heaven. Amid my reading, I felt this curiosity rushing through my veins. The excitement is there that propels me to keep on reading. It was beautifully written, and the lines helped in bringing out the best of the story. Some adage says that when you thought of putting yourself into the character’s shoes simply means that you were get caught by the story. It is not a romantic novel that everyone could cling onto; however, it is an inspiring story of living life on earth and seeing how you lived on earth once you reached heaven.
I can’t really interpret how the main character, “Eddie” looks like. But, Mitch Albom described him as an 83 year-old man whose character’s description changes as the narration of the story goes on. At some point he is courageous, sometimes he is coward. He is loving but he lost himself after a sudden incident in his life. In my own point of view, the plot consists of three subplots—first twist, highlight and ending. These three are correlative among each other. Metaphorically, they are under the same roof which is Eddie’s life and death.
The first twist dwelt more on Eddie’s way to his death. He attempted to save the four people on a ride not because it is his job as the maintenance of the amusement park but because he wanted to help. What bothers him is if he was able to save the little girl he saw. The highlight on the other hand emphasized on how he affected some significant people in his life and what roles they play in each others lives. And the ending? I found it having double meanings which I will explicate later on. Mitch Albom’s concept of heaven is not far beyond on how we think it is. Apparently, it seems like he himself already have seen and touchdown heaven. That alone made me moved into the thinking of living my life well especially when the five people he met in heaven entered the picture.
First is the Blue Man, who died because of the young Eddie who chased after his ball. He taught Eddie 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 a wind.” Eddie was young back then that is why he is completely unaware on how it is relevant on his life. It was an accident wherein the good thing about the Blue Man’s death is that Eddie lived. It may not look fair but “...fairness does not govern life and death. If it did, no good person would ever die young.”, the Blue Man said. “Strangers are just family you have yet to come know.”, he quipped.
The second person he met was from a different lens. He even recognized who’s the man—the Captain. Eddie worked as a military man before. He has a brave heart. Yet, his random act of bravery caused him to break his leg which he never thought he got from a friend. He wanted to save a little girl from the fire but the troop don’t want to leave him alone and get burned. So the Captain shoot his leg to stop him. Eddie was hospitalized afterward, and he barely get intact with his friends and never heard about the Captain, not knowing that the Captain died. What did the Captain taught him? “Sacrifice is a part of life. It is supposed to be. It is not something to regret. It is something to aspire to.” And, “Sometimes when you sacrifice something precious, you’re not really losing it. You’re just passing it on someone else.”
And so the third person seemed to be a stranger to Eddie. That person is Ruby; she is the woman behind Ruby Pier where he and his father worked. His husband Emile built it for her as a gift, but unfortunately he died when the pier was on fire. Ruby supposed to be the most significant in terms of implying to him the truth about his father. When he was young, his relationship with his father was cruel and so when he grew up—a lot worse. But he barely knew about what happened on that night when his father died. Mickey, his father’s friend was on their house that moment. He saw him drunk and intimately with his wife in his own house. They fought. But Eddie’s father ended up saving his friend from a huge wave of water in the shore. Lesson: “Things that happen before you are born still affect you, and people who come before your time affect you as well.” Ruby also questioned him, “Which was worse when left unexplained: a life, or a death?” And then she added, “Holding anger is a poison. It eats us from the inside.”After hearing these, Eddie was able to forgive his father and said the words he used to utter whenever his father summons him, "It's fixed."
Have I told you that Eddie is a married man? Okay. Here it is. The fourth person he met in heaven is Marguerite, his wife. Eddie’s married life is simple yet completely happy. His wife invites along friends every time it’s Eddie’s birthday. She often surprise him in little and special ways. But Eddie weakened after his wife’s death. She died wanting to apologize after yelling on him over the phone. What Marguerite told him in heaven is that, “Lost love is still love. It takes a different form… Memory is your partner. You nurture it. You hold it. You dance with it.” “Life has to end. Love doesn’t.”
Eddie kept on asking to the prior four people he met in heaven if he saved the girl. Not knowing, she's the fifth and the last person he will meet in heaven. Who's that little girl? Remember the incident he had with captain wherein he wanted to save a little girl from the fire? It happened in the Philippines. And that little girl she wanted to save is also the little girl he wanted to save from the ride. Contrary to his belief. She saved him and pushed him to heaven. It's not him who saved her, it's her who saved him. Then suddenly, all of Eddie's questions were answered and his difficulty of understanding his shortcomings has come to an end. He is now ready to start a new beginning, to go back home, and to live at peace in heaven.
Each people we meet has a purpose in our lives, whether he is a friend, family, acquaintance, foe, and even stranger. You may not understand it at the moment but time will come that you will realize that it was glad that they came. Greatest Lesson of the novel?:
"That each affects the other and the other affects the next, and the world is full of stories, but the stories are all one."
That's it! To those who haven't read the book, read it. To those who already did, lucky are you. Our life is a blessing, so let's be a blessing to each other. God Bless us all!
