For One More Day (ALB)

By Mitch Albom Its a story of a mother and a son, and a relationship that lasts a lifetime and beyond. It explores the question: What would you do if you could spend one more day with a lost loved one? After Charley Benetto's parents divorced, he was told by his father, "You can be a mama's boy or you can be a daddy's boy, but you can't be both." Charley had chosen his father and he worhsiped his father till when he was 11 years old, his father left him for another women. Charley turned to his mother who loved him raised him bravely as a single mother. However, there were many times that his mother stood up for him and he did not stood up for his mother but blamed her for his embarrassment. Charley mentioned in his diary that his greatest regret was that he lied to his mother on the day of a family gathering, where he left his mother and his wife and daughter to participate in a baseball game to support his father. Before he could drove home, he received a call that his mother died of heart attack and his daughter was the only kid that discover the death. He wrote if he had a chance to recast one part of his life, he would not leave the family and his poor daughter would not be left devastated and panic to discover her grandmother's death alone. Decades later after his mother's death, Charley's family broke off because his life has been crumbled by alcohol and regret. He hit the bottom after discovering his daughter had shut him out of her wedding. So he decided to take his own life. He made a midnight ride to his small hometown at Pepperville Beach, with plans to create an car accident. When his car crashed, his soul staggered back to his old house, and he met his mother-who died 8 years ago was still living there and welcomed him home as if nothing had had ever happened before. He began to spend a day with this mother, his mother led him to some homes to do make-up for old people who would soon passed away. Through the journey, he discovered the truth of why his father left him when his mother bought him to his father's another wife's house. In that house, he had learnt to forgive himself and others. And his mother wanted him to live on. Then his mother was gone and he was awaken by police shouting his names. His lesson learnt: 

 1. When someone is in your heart, they are never truly gone. They can come back to you even at unlikely times.

 2. Do not attempt to take your life, it is such precious thing. Find someone to talk out of your despair. You need to keep people close. You need to give them access to your heart. 

 3. Parents who loved you will hold you safely even at difficult times, sometimes you will never know what they had to endure and sacrifice, and in return, you may treat your parents unkindly. 

 4. There is a story behind everything. Example, how a picture got on a wall, how your scar got on your face. Sometimes the stories are simple, sometimes they are heart-breaking. But behind all your stories is always your mother's story, because hers is where yours begins.