Christian Homeschoolers

For our taped conversations,Louis Vuitton N51107, we had switched from handheld microphones-because it was too difficult now for Morrie to hold anything that long-to the lavaliere kind popular with TV newspeople. You can clip these onto a collar or lapel. Of course,Louis Vuitton M47515, since Morrie only wore soft cotton shirts that hung loosely on his ever-shrinking frame,Louis Vuitton M93750, the microphone sagged and flopped,Louis Vuitton M60083, and I had to reach over and adjust it frequently. Morrie seemed to enjoy this because it brought me close to him,Louis Vuitton M60002, in hugging range,Louis Vuitton M40453, and his need for physical affection was stronger than ever. When I leaned in,Louis Vuitton M56711, I heard his wheezing breath and his weak coughing,Louis Vuitton M58087, and he smacked his lips softly before he swallowed.

"Well,Louis Vuitton M91522, my friend,Louis Vuitton M41522," he said,Louis Vuitton M91676, "what are we talking about today?"

How about family?

"Family." He mulled it over for a moment. "Well,Louis Vuitton M66540-1, you see mine,Louis Vuitton M93465, all around me."

He nodded to photos on his bookshelves,Louis Vuitton N60018, of Morrie as a child with his grandmother; Morrie as a young man with his brother,Louis Vuitton M40357, David; Morrie with his wife,Louis Vuitton M91614, Charlotte; Morrie with his two sons,Louis Vuitton M93732, Rob,Louis Vuitton M60047, a journalist in Tokyo,Louis Vuitton M93701, and ion,Louis Vuitton M53151, a computer expert in Boston.

"I think,Louis Vuitton N55215, in light of what we've been talking about all these weeks,Louis Vuitton M4031J, family becomes even more important,Louis Vuitton M41232," he said.

"The fact is,Louis Vuitton M91691-3, there is no foundation,Louis Vuitton N55216, no secure ground,Louis Vuitton M93735, upon which people may stand today if it isn't the family. It's become quite clear to me as I've been sick. If you don't have the support and love and caring and concern that you get from a family,Louis Vuitton M61736, you don't have much at all. Love is so supremely important. As our great poet Auden said,Louis Vuitton M60068, `Love each other or perish.' "

"Love each other or perish." I wrote it down. Auden said that?

"Love each other or perish,Louis Vuitton M6658R," Morrie said. "It's good,Louis Vuitton M61926, no? And it's so true. Without love,Louis Vuitton M6658M, we are birds with broken wings.

"Say I was divorced,Louis Vuitton N51109, or living alone,Louis Vuitton M60243, or had no children. This disease-what I'm going through-would be so much harder. I'm not sure I could do it. Sure,Louis Vuitton M92646, people would come visit,Louis Vuitton M60095, friends,Louis Vuitton M93449, associates,Louis Vuitton N41112, but it's not the same as having someone who will not leave. It's not the same as having someone whom you know has an eye on you,Louis Vuitton M93739, is watching you the whole time.

"This is part of what a family is about,Louis Vuitton M93702, not just love,Louis Vuitton M48613, but letting others know there's someone who is watching out for them. It's what I missed so much when my mother died-what I call your `spiritual security'-knowing that your family will be there watching out for you. Nothing else will give you that. Not money. Not fame."

He shot me a look.

"Not work,Louis Vuitton M40145," he added.

Raising a family was one of those issues on my little list-things you want to get right before it's too late. I told Morrie about my generation's dilemma with having children,Louis Vuitton M40156, how we often saw them as tying us down,Louis Vuitton M93734, making us into these "parent" things that we did not want to be. I admitted to some of these emotions myself.

Yet when I looked at Morrie,Louis Vuitton M93746, I wondered if I were in his shoes,Louis Vuitton M97061, about to die,Louis Vuitton M40259, and I had no family,Louis Vuitton M93742, no children,Louis Vuitton M66565, would the emptiness be unbearable? He had raised his two sons to be loving and caring,Louis Vuitton M41526, and like Morrie,Louis Vuitton N41527, they were not shy with their affection. Had he so desired,Louis Vuitton M51986, they would have stopped what they were doing to be with their father every minute of his final months. But that was not what he wanted.

"Do not stop your lives,Louis Vuitton M61989," he told them. "Otherwise,Louis Vuitton M93705, this disease will have ruined three of us instead of one." In this way,Louis Vuitton M93596-1, even as he was dying,Louis Vuitton M91531, he showed respect for his children's worlds. Little wonder that when they sat with him,Louis Vuitton M56704, there was a waterfall of affection,Louis Vuitton N41415, lots of kisses and jokes and crouching by the side of the bed,Louis Vuitton M60042, holding hands.

"Whenever people ask me about having children or not having children,Louis Vuitton M56688, I never tell them what to do,Louis Vuitton M58008," Morrie said now,Louis Vuitton M40352, looking at a photo of his oldest son. "I simply say,Louis Vuitton M93081, `There is no experience like having children.' That's all. There is no substitute for it. You cannot do it with a friend. You cannot do it with a lover. If you want the experience of having complete responsibility for another human being,Louis Vuitton M40146, and to learn how to love and bond in the deepest way,Louis Vuitton M41412, then you should have children."

So you would do it again? I asked.

I glanced at the photo. Rob was kissing Morrie on the forehead,Louis Vuitton N41535, and Morrie was laughing with his eyes closed.

"Would I do it again?" he said to me,Louis Vuitton M40074, looking surprised. "Mitch,Louis Vuitton M59142, I would not have missed that experience for anything. Even though . . . "

He swallowed and put the picture in his lap.

"Even though there is a painful price to pay,Louis Vuitton M62225," he said. Because you'll be leaving them.

"Because I'll be leaving them soon."

He pulled his lips together,Louis Vuitton M93745, closed his eyes,Louis Vuitton M92641, and I watched the first teardrop fall down the side of his cheek.