Chele's Pick

by Michele Tester

For One More Day

by Mitch Albom

I started a Book Club many years ago with a few of my fellow book-lover friends. My book pick for our first club meeting was For One More Day by Mitch Albom. This is one of my favorite books, and Mitch Albom is one of my favorite authors. He is a gifted storyteller, and his books are inspirational, deep, and thought-provoking—all of which are my favorite ingredients in a book. I gave this book to both of my sons to read, and they both also hold it to heart as one of their favorites.

The book for which Mitch Albom is probably best known is Tuesdays With Morrie, a 1997 memoir about a series of visits Albom made to his former Brandeis University sociology professor, Morrie Schwartz, who was dying from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

I have read all of Mitch Albom’s books, and I have enjoyed them all. But the reason why For One More Day holds such a special place and resonates so deeply for me is the bones of the book: A story of a mother and a son, and the profound, meaningful, complicated relationship between them over a lifetime…and beyond. This book explores the question that I believe we all ponder after losing a loved one: What would you do if you could spend one more day with a lost loved one?

The story takes the main character, Charley “Chick” Benetto, on a journey from a life he deems pointless and full of regrets to an awakening and an understanding that rocks the foundation of who and what he always believed. Chick’s father would always tell him as a child, “You can be a mama’s boy or a daddy’s boy, but you can’t be both.” So, Chick chooses his father, only to see him disappear when Chick is on the verge of adolescence. Years were spent trying to please his father, seeking his love and validation that never came. Decades later, Chick is a broken man, his life disintegrating due to alcohol and regret. He has hit rock bottom. He doesn’t want to live anymore.

So, Chick takes a midnight ride to his small hometown where he grew up, with plans to do himself in. But he fails at even doing that, so he decides to go visit his childhood home. Chick staggers to his old house, walks in, and makes an astonishing discovery: His mother—who died eight years earlier—is still living there and welcomes him home.

Throughout his one last day with his mother, Chick gains a deeper understanding of her life, her unconditional love for him, and the sacrifices that she made for him that he never knew, highlighting the numerous times his mother stood up for him throughout his life, and reconciling his regret of the numerous times that he did not stand up for his mother. With everything he learns and experiences during this gift of a day spent with his mother, Chick gains a sense of peace, forgiveness, and personal growth. This book explores themes of love, forgiveness, and the unbelievable power of a mother’s love. We are reminded of the resilience of the human spirit and the transformative power of love.

A few of my absolute favorite quotes from the book:

“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.”

“Behind all your stories is always your mother’s story, because hers is where yours begins.”

“It’s funny. I met a man once who did a lot of mountain climbing. I asked him which was harder, ascending or descending? He said without a doubt descending, because ascending you were so focused on reaching the top, you avoided mistakes. The backside of a mountain is a fight against human nature,” he said. “You have to care as much about yourself on the way down as you did on the way up.”

― Mitch Albom, For One More Day