The Five People You Meet in Heaven by Mitch Albom

Five People You Meet in Heaven was such a short, simple read!! I literally read it in about 4 hours (at the most)! Here's just a short glimpse of what the book is about (in my own words) . . . Eddie tries to save a little girl, but ends up dying himself. Upon his death, he is greeted by five people who have passed before him that he has impacted in his life one way or another, for better or for worse. The story is about those people he meets and the lessons that he learns from each of them.

Overall, I really felt it was an interesting book based on an interesting concept. It makes you think about how you personally impact other's in your life, even those you may not know. In one respect, however, considering the complexity of the issue being presented, I did feel that it was explained in too simple of terms and the descriptions were a bit bare. Though I believe the author got his point across very well, I do believe that there was a lot more that he could do with this idea!

**SPOILER ALERT** There were a few issues that I wanted to address individually that were in the book. If you have not read the book, I highly recommend that you do not read from here until the end!!

1. I was surprised at the people that Eddie did meet in heaven! A couple only played very small parts in his life (or at least from the initial perspective). I was surprised that others, particularly his father was not one of these five. Afterall, with all the unfinished business between them, I would have thought that this could be a good way to tie up all the loose ends. Or, what about his mother and brother even? Or Mickey?
2. Did anyone else find it odd that his wife's heaven was a bunch of big weddings? The first thing that came to my mind was if that was the high point in her life. Was she truly happy with Eddie or was their relationship only truly happy on their wedding day? Then again, they had a very small wedding and all the weddings that were in her heaven were big, extravagant ones. I don't know . . . I thought that this was a little weird, especially considering the lesson taught from her . . . "Life ends. Love does not."
3. I was so sad to hear that Eddie was right during the fire . . . there really was someone in the burning building. And, it wasn't just anyone, it was a child!! How horrible is that?!? If he had known this all along, how would his life be affected? It seems that he was already depressed about his life and felt it was meaningless. Knowing this at such a young, vulnerable age could have really devastated him beyond belief and his life could have turned out much differently.
4. I LOVED that one of the messages of the book was that everyone has a purpose!!! You may not always know what it is, but you are still important! You do impact others!! Not one person is meaningless!! I can really see how this book can be empowering for some that may be down on life!
5. This book really got me to thinking about how I impact others in my life. Who would be my five people? Do I really know the impact that I have made on others that I have come in contact with? I can only hope that I have not done something to hurt others either directly or indirectly. I have always wanted to have a positive impact on others, and I do believe that this book has brought this right back to the front of my thoughts. It makes you think a little more before making decisions and allows you not to be so selfish at times! And, lastly, who would be the one person that I would wait for in heaven? Who has had a significant impact on my life?

Though I did feel that this book was a bit too simple at times, I did appreciate that it was a book that made me think!! Very interesting and worth the 4 hours!! :)