Book Report: The Next Person You Meet In Heaven, by Mitch Albom

This is the sequel to the fictional book the Five People You Meet in Heaven. I had to re-read the first book to make sure I enjoyed all of the second book, as sequels often refer to events in the prior work, be it movies, music or literature.

I am a fan of Mitch Albom. I enjoy his writing. Much of it is good, really good and some of it is great, really great. And in this rare case, the sequel is better than the original.

This work of fiction takes the emotional 'punch' to another level. To quote some lines from page 61..."We humans make so much of 'our' time on earth. We measure it, we compare it, we put it on our tombstones. We forget that 'our' time is linked to others' times. We come from one. We return to one. That's how a connected universe makes sense."

This was so profound to me. And the next 150 pages after this was really great. Even the ending was a gratifying surprise. Mitch Albom creates characters that are believable and real. You care about them. You cheer for them. You feel like you know them.

The book reminded me of a simple but life changing poem by Linda Ellis. Briefly, when you see a tombstone, you see the date of birth and the date of death and in between is just a dash. But that dash represents a lifetime of love, life, family, hopes, dreams, accomplishments, triumphs, failures and more. We need to fill our dash with good things.

So pick up a copy of this book by Mitch Albom and enjoy it. It is so worth your time.