Four months ago I picked up "for one more day" by Mitch Albom at my aunt's house and read the first few pages. I didn't know what it was about before I started reading. I kept meaning to go back and read more. The main character is about to commit suicide. His life is in a terrible place--he's an alcoholic whose wife left him and only daughter didn't invite him to her wedding. I noticed the book again at my aunt's house recently. I asked if I could take it, and finally read the whole thing.To my surprise, the book's title is about getting one more day with a lost loved one. The main character, Charles or "Chick," lost his mom 8 years earlier. In a journey he plans to end in suicide, Chick goes back to the house where he grew up. When he gets there, his mother is inside. She greets him as if nothing had changed from when he last saw her all those years ago. She makes him food and encourages him to eat.
Here are a few parts of the book I liked in particular.
In one, Chick is at the kitchen table, astonished upon first seeing his mom, and he goes to speak to her:
"Mom?" I whispered.
I hadn't said it in so long. When death takes your mother, it steals that word forever.
"Mom?"
It's just a sound, really, a hum interrupted by open lips. But there are a zillion words on this planet, and not one of them comes out of your mouth the way that one does.
In another scene Chick's mom takes him to see the place where she carved the word "PLEASE" into a tree. It was a gesture to ask God for children before Chick, the oldest, was born.
"So," she said, moving away, "now you know how badly someone wanted you, Charley. Children forget that sometimes. They think of themselves as a burden rather than a wish granted."
The book was difficult for me to read at times, because I really related to what the son was feeling. He was so glad to have his mother back, especially in the ordinary, routine moments that he'd lived through growing up. But he was ashamed of where his life was at, and feeling guilty for all the times he'd hurt his mom.
Chick learns why his mother wouldn't let his father back into their lives, how his mother struggled to raise them, and how much she meant to other people. He could appreciate as an adult all the sacrifices and heartache that go along with raising and loving a child. Chick ultimately understands the depth of his mother's love, and is able to accept it during his bonus day with her. He also learns, at his mom's urging, to forgive himself.
Some of the same sentiments from the book are captured in the poem "Those Winter Sundays" by Robert Hayden (though it's about a father and son). I wrote that poem out in a letter to my mom after she was diagnosed with leukemia. I think it's very powerful.
Throughout his life Chick's mother left him notes of encouragement at important times--first day of school, first day of college, wedding day. She always ended the notes:
I love you every day.
Mom.
I know that's how my mom felt about me. And it's how I feel about her every day, too.
