We are human and it’s human nature to learn from each other. The problem though, is that we don’t always learn the most beneficial lessons, and we certainly don’t always teach what should truly be taught.

One thing I think we should all learn more about is death. Not so much the death of a soldier, or 200 people dying from a catastrophic airplane crash, but the slow, insidious death that most of us are going to succumb to. And this is why I’m drawn to Morrie Schwartz so much. He devoted his death and life to teaching others. He was, as he said he wanted to be, “A teacher to the last.”

And it’s so seldom that we see, or spend time with elderly people anymore. You rarely see them in movies or on TV or in advertisements. So where do we get our lessons about life? We get them from young, ignorant people who are still as confused as we are. Who still think that the most important thing in life is how attractive we are, or aren’t. We learn to be selfish rather than giving, we learn to fight rather than to swallow our pride and forgive, we learn that death is something that won’t happen for a long, long time rather than something that could realistically take place any minute now.

Worst of all, we learn to be apathetic towards others rather than taking the time to care about them.

Through listening to Morrie Schwartz though, and reading Tuesdays with Morrie, I have learned valuable life lessons that have stayed with me, and will continue to stay with me until my own death. It’s true you know, “Once you find your way to such teachers, you’ll always find your back. Sometimes it’s only in your head, sometimes it’s right along side their beds.”