Mitch Albom: For One More Day

 

Everybody remembers childhood for his or her own reasons. Charley “Chick” Benetto, the protagonist in Mitch Albom’s book “For One More Day,” seems to remember almost everything. The book is told from the angle of an “as told to” story, like an interview. It touches on topics like divorce and what parents mean to their children without the children even noticing. This book takes you back to your own childhood and lets you remember the little things about your relationship with your parents.
Chick covers everything from the flashbacks about his childhood to the person he is today. It begins in present times with Chick as an alcoholic, isolated from his family. He is a washed-up baseball player with a dead-end job. To top it all off, he isn’t invited to his own daughter’s wedding. Due to all of these troubles, he tries to kill himself. He wants to return to the place he grew up, to end it where it all began. Returning to his childhood home to commit suicide, Chick is surprised to see his mother, Pauline, there cooking breakfast. Even more shocking is that his mother, who has been dead for 10 years, was apparently there waiting for him.
Throughout the rest of the book, Chick and the “ghost” of his mom visit three people while reminiscing about childhood times. They remember the ups and downs of Chick’s childhood and what the little things meant to both of them. Pauline wanted to tell Chick a lot of things that she did for him but is hesitant throughout the entire book. It had to be told at an opportune moment: the end. That is the main story, with underlying stories of Chick’s present life mixed in with his baseball career and his relationship with his dad.
This book will make you appreciate who raised you in childhood, including all the things they did and didn’t do for you. It reminds me of the phrase, “You will understand when you are older.” So, if you are willing to connect with the story and reflect on things in your own life, this story will be enjoyable. It is a fast read with only 197 pages. Mitch Albom’s other books are also worth looking into: “Tuesdays with Morrie” and “The Five People You Meet in Heaven.”