I don't cry while reading books. It's not that I don't care about the characters. They just don't move me to tears, no matter how touching the story or how beautiful the prose. Tuesdays With Morrie changed that. In fact, it changed my outlook on the world.

In this memoir by Mitch Albom, Morrie Schwartz, an older sociology professor diagnosed with ALS, is told he has only a short time left to live. Instead of shrinking from his fate, Morrie accepts it with dignity and makes the most of his time to connect with people and share his wisdom. Mitch is one of these people.

Once one of Morrie's favorite students, Mitch had lost touch and become obsessed with work. After hearing about his professor's diagnosis, he decides to visit. These trips become regular, and every Tuesday, Mitch and Morrie talk about death, life, love, and compassion.

During these meetings, ­Morrie teaches Mitch the importance of appreciating the world around him and caring for others with the raw wisdom and perspective only a dying man can possess. He gives Mitch a wake-up call and a chance to re-examine his life and priorities, which Mitch shares with the rest of the world in Tuesdays With Morrie, his final “thesis” from Morrie's final “class.”

I read this book on a train packed with frustrated people hurrying to their destinations, just like any train full of strangers on any day of the week. But when I looked up, something had changed. Each of these strangers was important to me in a way I am ashamed to say they had never been before. And when I stepped outside, I experienced the chilly fall wind on my skin as if for the first time.

So that's how Tuesdays With Morrie gave me a new perspective on life. Morrie Schwartz touched my life even after his death through Albom's simple, elegant memoir. He reminded me how precious life is, the importance of love, and not to fear death.
And when I closed this book, the world somehow seemed a little … brighter.