Five People, Five Lessons

Sometimes, things in the media can make a profound statement, even impacting our lives. You watch a film or read a book and its message resonates like a clap of thunder in your head. You find yourself examining your beliefs and seeing where things fit. Sometimes, you even rearrange them, like one would a piece of furniture.
Such was the case when I read The Five People You Meet In Heaven by Mitch Albom and subsequently watched the movie the following day. I read the book in two days, half one day, the other half the next. Then, the next day, I watched the film. What a remarkable impact it made.
The premise of the story is that when one dies, they go to heaven and meet five people. Those five people each have a lesson to teach about the person’s life. Basically, when you die, you get your life explained to you.
While the story of Eddie was profound in and of itself, what really impacted me were the five lessons that he learned about his life. They are, in my opinion anyways, five lessons that we could all benefit from. They are as follows:
Lesson Number One: Some people must die so that others may live. Here, Eddie meets The Blue Man, a freak show survivor that took silver nitrate and while it failed to cure his ailment, it turned his skin a blue hue. When Eddie learns that he is responsible for The Blue Man’s death, even though it was an accident, he exclaims, “That’s not fair. It was my own stupidity. I should have died, not you.” The Blue Man turns to him and says, “If Life were fair, no good man would ever die young.” Perhaps, in the upheaval of today’s society, these words ring even truer than they did for Eddie.
Lesson Number Two: Everybody Makes Sacrifices. Eddie finds himself in war-torn Philippines and meets Captain, the young man who pulled him to safety from a burning house. Eddie has suffered over his war wounds for many years and must come to grips with the meaning of his war wounds. He learns that Captain, not snipers, shot him in the leg that sultry night so long ago. He becomes angered and wrestles Captain to the ground, filled with rage over what he lost and that one of his own would be the cause of it.
When Captain is able to catch a breath, he says “I took your leg to save your life!” Eddie doesn’t understand this and learns that had he not been shot, he would have went into the burning house and it would have been too late. “You were obsessed that night!” When Eddie learns that Captain lost his life that same night, he says “What good did that do? You lost it all.” Captain looks him in the eye and says “That’s the thing about sacrifice. Sometimes, when you think you’ve lost something, you’ve really just passed it on to someone else.”
Eddie forgives Captain for losing his leg and asks Captain, “Why here of all places. You could have waited anywhere you wanted. Why here?” Captain says “I wanted to see what this was all like before we all started killing each other, before the war.” Eddie looks confused and says, “But this is war.” Captain shows him what he really sees. “Our eyes ain’t the same, kid.” He places his hand on Eddie’s shoulder and Eddie sees through Captain’s eyes. A beautiful woods with trees and a waterfall and most of all, peaceful.
Lesson Number Three: Anger is a curved blade and forgiveness is the only way to resolve it. Eddie meets Ruby, the lady for whom the park he worked at all of his life was named after. He becomes angry with her when she defends his father who was very abusive to him. She shows him what really happened to his father and the truth behind his death. “Do you remember how you felt when you first came here, Eddie?” Eddie pauses. “No pain, no worry, no sorrow.”
“No hate.” Ruby finishes. “Anger is not something we are born with,” she says. “It’s something we build with the things we bury, the things we don’t say.” Then, she urges Eddie to forgive his father so that his soul could find rest.
Lesson Number Four: Life Has to End, Love Doesn’t.
Eddie is finally reunited with his wife, who preceded him in death. They catch up on old times and she reassures Eddie that she felt all of his love from where she was. “Memory becomes your best friend,” she says, her voice choked with emotion. “You hold it, you dance with it. You bask in its sweetness because it’s always there.
I must admit this section reminded me of my parents. Dad passed in May and some days, the grief is unbearable. But, I think the lesson for my mother and all those who have lost loved ones can be found in the words of Marguerite. “Life has to end for everybody, eventually. Love never has to end. It goes on forever.” What a comfort those words are to me.
Lesson Number Five: Everybody’s Life Has Purpose and Meaning.
Eddie feels that his life has been shortchanged, that he didn’t accomplish everything he was supposed to while on Earth. “There’s been a mistake up here,” he tells Tala, his fifth person. He tells her this after learning that she was in the burning house, the shadow he saw the night he lost his leg. She explains to him that his life didn’t change because it wasn’t supposed to. “You make good for me,” she says matter-of-factly. “You keep children safe.” She points to his badge. “Eddie Maintenance.”
I must admit, I have many days when I feel like Eddie. I feel like I’m not accomplishing all that needs to be accomplished. I feel like I’m trapped in a rut and the world is spinning around, without me. But perhaps, there is hope. Perhaps, my life is going according to plan, after all. Perhaps, I’ll find out when I get to heaven and meet my five people. Perhaps, we all will.