I remember reading “The Five People You Meet in Heaven” while travelling on a sky train in Bangkok. This book was written by Mitch Albom who also wrote “Tuesdays with Morrie.”
The Book
“The Five People You Meet in Heaven” is the story of Eddie who was a 83 year old mechanic looking after and repairing machines at an amusement park. Eddie died from an accident related to one of the rides.
The book tells the story of when Eddie met five different people in heaven after he died. What these five people taught Eddie, and of course taught us, are worth noting down as follows.
The First Person
The first person Eddie met was someone Eddie did not really know before. It was the person who had happened to be at the same place in an event and at the same time as Eddie. This person taught Eddie that everything that happened in our lives always happened for a reason. Everything was related to one another. Even if you spoke about death, it did not only mean taking away lives, but also meant keeping others alive.
The Second Person
The second person Eddie met was his superior during a war (Eddie was in the army). The person was a Captain that led his troops, including Eddie, in the war. The Captain lost his life while leading and clearing the way for his soldiers who were on a military truck. Unfortunately, the Captain stepped on a land mine which killed him instantly.
What the Captain taught Eddie was that sacrifice did not always mean losing your valuables, but it sometimes meant that other people would be able to gain something. In this case, the Captain sacrifice his life so that the rest of his troops could survive.
The Third Person
The third person was also someone Eddie had never met. It was a woman named Ruby. She actually owned the amusement part at which Eddit worked before he died. Ruby had seen Eddie when he was a child. She also knew Eddie’s father. More importantly, Ruby even knew that Eddie and his father did not get along. Here, Ruby gave Eddie a short but valuable lesson.
Ruby told Eddie not to let anger eat him from the inside. Anger was just like poison. Sometimes wee thought that hatred and anger were like weapons which could be used to hurt our opponents. However, they were more like a sword that hurt us instead.
The Fourth Person
The fourth person was Eddie’s wife who had lost her life thirty or forty years prior. This was the woman Eddie loved the most. She told Eddie that lost love was still love. It just came in a different shape and form.
The Fifth Person
The fifth person was perhaps the most surprising of all. It was an Asian kid who died because Eddie burned camps and houses during the war. … Eddie was shocked and upset when he met this child and found out what happened. The kid taught Eddie that everyone of us was fine in the place that we should be. We should not compare ourselves with others. … Nature and the world would lead us to the place that needed us the most. (Very deep, I thought)
The End
This brings us to the end of the book. … Personally, I think I have learned a lot from reading “The Five People You Meet in Heaven.” If you have a chance, I really would recommend this book to anyone.