Helping patients search for meaning in their lives.

Digital Object Identifier: 10.1188/02.CJON.239-240 Many of us have had one special teacher in our lives who not only instructed us in an academic discipline but also taught us about life. He or she graced us with skills as a teacher, support as a mentor, and love as a friend. For Detroit sports writer Mitch Albom, that teacher was Dr. Morrie Schwartz, his sociology professor at Brandeis University in Waltham, MA. Dr. Schwartz became Mitch’s teacher, faculty advisor, and mentor who first helped Mitch realize his potential as a writer. In 1974, Dr. Schwartz was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS, more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. Doctors told him he had a year to live, and Dr. Schwartz intended to live that year to the fullest. On ABC’s Nightline, he discussed what he was learning about life while facing death. Mitch saw the program and called his old friend. Dr. Schwartz invited his former student to his home in Massachusetts. That trip became the first of 14 weekly Tuesday visits that became, for Mitch, a course on the meaning of life. During their visits, both teacher and student reflected on life, forgiveness, culture, suffering, marriage, family, emotions, money, aging, and death, all from Dr. Schwartz’ unique perspective as a man facing his own death. Two themes emerged from this course, the first being, “Once you learn how to die, you learn how to live.” The second was that “Love is the only rational act.” Mitch later wrote a book titled Tuesdays With Morrie (1997). The book chronicled what Mitch learned in their Tuesday meetings and how he was able to bring a new perspective to his own life, which was overwhelmed by work and desperate for love and meaning. In our lives, we all have encountered a “Morrie”—one whose life has taken on a new dimension and, in the face of that reality, has opened us up to see and live life differently. For most people, this new dimension is initiated by a crisis, a “moment of truth.” The Helping Patients Search for Meaning in Their Lives