A review by iris_ymra
For One More Day by Mitch Albom

5.0

'Have you ever lost someone you love and wanted one more conversation, one more chance to make up for the time when you thought they could be here forever? If so, then you know you can go your whole life collecting days, and none will outweigh the one you wish you had back.'

'I don't know what it is about food your mother makes for you, especially when it's something that anyone can make -- pancakes, meat loaf, tuna salad -- but it carries a certain taste of memory.'

'Children forget that sometimes. They think of themselves as a burden instead of a wish granted.'

'When someone is in your heart, they never truly gone. They can come back to you, even at unlikely times.'

'...parents, if they love you, will hold you up safely, above their swirling waters, and sometimes that means you'll never know what they endured, an you may treat them unkindly, in a way you otherwise wouldn't.'

________


Charles 'Chick' Benetto was on his way to Pepperville Beach -- his hometown -- and decided to end his life, after have not been invited to his own daughter's wedding -- Maria. After calling his ex-wife Catherine and telling her that 'he's leaving', and after a long years of guilt and regret when his mother, Pauline Benetto, died from heart attack almost a decade ago.

Driving under the influenced of alcohol had resulted Charles involved in an accident. Where he then escaped and went straight to his old home after making a stop on a water tower, he had climbed up and then jumped over it, yet still hadn't managed to make himself died when he fell, just fainted.

When he opened his eyes, he saw his mother, only to see her gone the next moment. But when he had reached their home, his mother was there. And Charles had the chance for one more day to spend together with his mother; his dead mother, and for him to discover a story from the past.

________


This book was written from the pov of Maria, in the voice of Charles. A compact and short storyline yet covers plot from a longer timeline. The whole scene happened within a day, with a several time of flashbacks. Definitely a great storytelling from Mitch Albom, poignant and heart-wrenching.

This is a book about family, a child and the parents. About the lose of loved one; the regret and guilt that could consume ones, and made them take a short way to deal with life after.

The whole story is indeed feeling familiar to me, it strikes me hard right into the bottom of my heart. And when it involves the story about mother one did not expect me to not cry my eyes out. I was crying throughout the entire book.