Student Question
In Tuesdays With Morrie, what does Morrie plan and "throw" for himself?
Quick answer:
In Tuesdays With Morrie, Morrie plans and actually “throws” for himself a "living funeral" so that he can hear the ways he has impacted people during his life. He gets this idea after going to the funeral of a colleague and coming home saddened that the man never got to hear all the kind things that people said about him. Morrie thinks that talking about a person's achievements only when they are dead is a "big waste."
Morrie had been diagnosed with ALS, which also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. In the chapter titled "The Syllabus," Morrie realizes that this year will be his final one. He insists that people continue to come to him with their problems and that they not see his dying process as rendering him "useless."
When a colleague dies suddenly of a heart attack, Morrie attends the funeral and then comes home uncharacteristically dejected. He isn't as upset by the man's loss as much as he is upset that his colleague never got to hear all the wonderful things people said about him at his funeral. He calls this a big "waste."
Morrie thus gets an idea. He decides to host his own "living funeral" and invites people to come over to pay their respects ahead of his death. On a Sunday afternoon, Morrie's house becomes the setting of this "living funeral," where friends and family speak about Morrie. They laugh and they cry. Morrie laughs and cries right along with them. Yet through this unusual gathering, he gets to hear all the ways he has impacted those who meant the most to him. Everyone considers the "living funeral" a great success—and Morrie still has time left to create a few more memories.
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