OR Blog

This past week I have been unable to find my copy of The Catcher in the Rye so I have switched over to The Five People You Meet in Heaven, by Mitch Albom. I chose this book because I saw it sitting in my parents’ room and I was looking for something to read on my plane ride over break. The book starts out telling the story of an old man named Eddie, who works at an amusement park that when described reminded me of Navy Pier in Chicago. Since the book is about Eddie’s time spent in heaven, his death comes very early on. While trying to save a young girl, Eddie is hit by a free falling roller coaster car that detached from the ride. Eddie wakes up in heaven, completely unaware of his surroundings. In between sections of the book, flashbacks from various birthdays of Eddie’s are illustrated. A man from his past approaches him and begins to explain to him how heaven works. According to the Blue Man, whenever somebody dies, 5 people from their past come talk to them about their life and what its significance was. These people could be close family members or random strangers that they never even spoke with. The Blue Man was Eddie’s first person, and he explained to him how when Eddie was about eight years old, he darted in front of his car, and the Blue Man had to swerve and ended up getting killed by a semi truck. In my opinion, Albom chose to have the Blue Man be Eddie’s first person to show that although you may not realize it, everything you do affects other people and can have a big impact on their life.