Tuesdays with Morrie Eulogy
Medha Sarma
ENG4U
K. Sondhi
11.07.14
Tuesdays with Morrie
Eulogy
Morrie once said, “dying is only one thing to be sad over... living unhappily is something
else.” Morrie Schwartz was a remarkable person, a wonderful husband, a loving father and
an amazing professor. His loving personality has touched the lives of many people around
him, including his students, family and friends. During our lessons in the weeks before his
passing, he managed to change my whole life and my outlook of the world. I knew Morrie
was different, the I met him, 16 years ago on the very first day of class. Right off the bat, he
said, “ I hope that one day, you think of me as your friend.” And let me tell you, Morrie was a
lot more than just a friend to me. He was my best friend, my confidant, my mentor, my coach.
Morrie was like no one I'd ever met before. He had a completely different view of
life...and death. He used to say, “learn to die, and you'll learn to live.” That if you strip away
all the “stuff” and focus on the essentials, you see everything around you differently. Over the
past 14 weeks, I have learned from Morrie, many valuable lessons that we tend to forget as
we live our daily lives.
Morrie was a strong believer in disregarding popular culture, and living life on our own
terms. He used to say, “ sometimes you have to be strong enough to say if the culture
doesn’t work, don’t buy it. Create your own.“ He always told us that society shouldn't be
allowed to determine what values you want to follow, choose for yourself.
Coach always believed that love was the most important part of anyone's life. He would
say “ without love, we are birds without wings.” During our 5th Tuesday together, Morrie and I
talked about the importance of family, and he quoted the great American poet, W.H. Auden,
who said, “love each other, or perish.” This became Morrie's mantra. He had unconditional
ENG4U
K. Sondhi
11.07.14
Tuesdays with Morrie
Eulogy
Morrie once said, “dying is only one thing to be sad over... living unhappily is something
else.” Morrie Schwartz was a remarkable person, a wonderful husband, a loving father and
an amazing professor. His loving personality has touched the lives of many people around
him, including his students, family and friends. During our lessons in the weeks before his
passing, he managed to change my whole life and my outlook of the world. I knew Morrie
was different, the I met him, 16 years ago on the very first day of class. Right off the bat, he
said, “ I hope that one day, you think of me as your friend.” And let me tell you, Morrie was a
lot more than just a friend to me. He was my best friend, my confidant, my mentor, my coach.
Morrie was like no one I'd ever met before. He had a completely different view of
life...and death. He used to say, “learn to die, and you'll learn to live.” That if you strip away
all the “stuff” and focus on the essentials, you see everything around you differently. Over the
past 14 weeks, I have learned from Morrie, many valuable lessons that we tend to forget as
we live our daily lives.
Morrie was a strong believer in disregarding popular culture, and living life on our own
terms. He used to say, “ sometimes you have to be strong enough to say if the culture
doesn’t work, don’t buy it. Create your own.“ He always told us that society shouldn't be
allowed to determine what values you want to follow, choose for yourself.
Coach always believed that love was the most important part of anyone's life. He would
say “ without love, we are birds without wings.” During our 5th Tuesday together, Morrie and I
talked about the importance of family, and he quoted the great American poet, W.H. Auden,
who said, “love each other, or perish.” This became Morrie's mantra. He had unconditional