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"Every family is a ghost story . . ."
Mitch Albom mesmerized readers around the world with his number one New York Times bestsellers, The Five People You Meet in Heaven and Tuesdays with Morrie. Now he returns with a beautiful, haunting novel about the family we love and the chances we miss.
For One More Day is the story of a mother and a son, and a relationship that covers a lifetime and beyond. It explores the question: What would you do if you could spend one more day with a lost loved one?
As a child, Charley "Chick" Benetto was told by his father, "You can be a mama's boy or a daddy's boy, but you can't be both." So he chooses his father, only to see the man disappear when Charley is on the verge of adolescence.
Decades later, Charley is a broken man. His life has been crumbled by alcohol and regret. He loses his job. He leaves his family. He hits bottom after discovering his only daughter has shut him out of her wedding. And he decides to take his own life.
He makes a midnight ride to his small hometown, with plans to do himself in. But upon failing even to do that, he staggers back to his old house, only to make an astonishing discovery. His mother—who died eight years earlier—is still living there, and welcomes him home as if nothing ever happened.
What follows is the one "ordinary" day so many of us yearn for, a chance to make good with a lost parent, to explain the family secrets, and to seek forgiveness. Somewhere between this life and the next, Charley learns the astonishing things he never knew about his mother and her sacrifices. And he tries, with her tender guidance, to put the crumbled pieces of his life back together.
Through Albom's inspiring characters and masterful storytelling, readers will newly appreciate those whom they love—and may have thought they'd lost—in their own lives. For One More Day is a book for anyone in a family, and will be cherished by Albom's millions of fans worldwide.
Tuesdays... is a moving account of Albom's reconnection with his old Brandeis professor and college mentor, Morrie Schwartz. After learning Schwartz had been stricken with Lou Gehrig's disease, Albom sought him out in Boston, and throughout a long, harrowing year, they spent every Tuesday together. As he faced his inevitable death, Schwartz shared a lifetime of memories, regrets, fears, and philosophical insights with his former student. A story that could easily have toppled into maudlin sentimentality, the memoir succeeded in large part because of Albom's skillful writing. Published in 30 languages in 34 countries, the book remains an international bestseller.
In 2003, Albom forayed into fiction with The Five People You Meet in Heaven, the emotionally resonant story of an old man who dies, convinced his life has had no meaning -- only to discover that nothing could be further from the truth. It, too, scored a huge success for the author – as did his followup novel, For One Day More.
Before Albom was a household name, he was known on the comedy circuit as the warm-up act for Gabe "Welcome Back Kotter" Kaplan.
Albom is an enthusiastic philanthropist, having founded two charitable programs, the Dream Fund and A Time to Help.
All right reserved.
ISBN: 1-4013-0327-7
I tried to lift myself in her direction then fell back, a bolt of pain
shooting through my muscles. My brain wanted to shout her name, but there was no
sound from my throat.
I lowered my head and put my palms together. I pushed hard again, and this
time I lifted myself halfway off the ground. I looked up.
She was gone.
I don't expect you to go with me here. It's crazy, I know. You don't see dead
people. You don't get visits. You don't fall off of a water tower, miraculously
alive despite your best attempt to kill yourself, and see your dearly departed
mother holding her pocketbook on the third-base line.
I have given it all the thought that you are probably giving it right now; a
hallucination, a fantasy, a drunken dream, the mixed-up brain on its mixed-up
way. As I say, I don't expect you to go with me here.
But this is what happened. She had been there. I had seen her. I lay on the
field for an indeterminate amount of time, then I rose to my feet and I got
myself walking. I brushed the sand and debris from my knees and forearms. I was
bleeding from dozens of cuts, most of them small, a fewbigger. I could taste
blood in my mouth.
I cut across a familiar patch of grass. A morning wind shook the trees and
brought a sweep of yellow leaves, like a small, fluttering rainstorm. I had
twice failed to kill myself. How pathetic was that?
I headed toward my old house, determined to finish the job......
* * *
My father once told me, "You can be a mama's boy or a daddy's boy. But you can't
be both."
So I was a daddy's boy. I mimicked his walk. I mimicked his deep, smoky
laugh. I carried a baseball glove because he loved baseball, and I took every
hardball he threw, even the ones that stung my hands so badly I thought I would
scream.
When school was out, I would run to his liquor store on Kraft Avenue and stay
until dinnertime, playing with empty boxes in the storeroom, waiting for him to
finish. We would ride home together in his sky blue Buick sedan, and sometimes
we would sit in the driveway as he smoked his Chesterfields and listened to the
radio news.
I have a younger sister named Roberta, and back then she wore pink ballerina
slippers almost everywhere. When we ate at the local diner, my mother would yank
her to the "ladies'" room-her pink feet sliding across the tile-while my
father took me to the "gents'." In my young mind I figured this was life's
assignment: me with him, her with her. Ladies'. Gents'. Mama's. Daddy's.
A daddy's boy.
I was a daddy's boy, and I remained a daddy's boy right up to a hot,
cloudless Saturday morning in the spring of my fifth grade year. We had a
doubleheader scheduled that day against the Cardinals, who wore red wool
uniforms and were sponsored by Connor's Plumbing Supply.
The sun was already warming the kitchen when I entered in my long socks,
carrying my glove, and saw my mother at the table smoking a cigarette. My mother
was a beautiful woman, but she didn't look beautiful that morning. She bit her
lip and looked away from me. I remember the smell of burnt toast and I thought
she was upset because she messed up breakfast.
"I'll eat cereal," I said.
I took a bowl from the cupboard.
She cleared her throat. "What time is your game, honey?"
"Do you have a cold?" I asked.
She shook her head and put a hand to her cheek. "What time is your game?"
"I dunno." I shrugged. This was before I wore a watch.
I got the glass bottle of milk and the big box of corn puffs. I poured the
corn puffs too fast and some bounced out of the bowl and onto the table. My
mother picked them up, one at a time, and put them in her palm.
"I'll take you," she whispered. "Whenever it is."
"Why can't Daddy take me?" I asked.
"Daddy's not here."
"Where is he?"
She didn't answer.
"When's he coming back?"
She squeezed the corn puffs and they crumbled into floury dust.
I was a mama's boy from that day on.......
* * *
The house was musty, and there was a faint, sweet smell of carpet cleaner,
as if someone (the caretaker we paid?) had recently shampooed it. I stepped past
the hallway closet and the banister we used to slide down as kids. I entered the
kitchen, with its old tile floor and its cherrywood cabinets. I opened the
refrigerator because I was looking for something alcoholic; by now this was a
reflex with me.
And I stepped back.
There was food inside.
Tupperware. Leftover lasagna. Skim milk. Apple juice. Raspberry yogurt. For a
fleeting moment, I wondered if someone had moved in, a squatter of some kind,
and this was now his place, the price we paid for ignoring it for so long.
I opened a cabinet. There was Lipton tea and a bottle of Sanka. I opened
another cabinet. Sugar. Morton salt. Paprika. Oregano. I saw a dish in the sink,
soaking under bubbles. I lifted it and slowly lowered it, as if trying to put it
back in place.
And then I heard something.
It came from upstairs.
"Charley?"
Again.
"Charley?"
It was my mother's voice.
I ran out the kitchen door, my fingers wet with soapy water..........
* * *
"Charley?"
What I remember most, hiding on that back porch, is how fast my breath left
me. One second I had been at the refrigerator, dragging through the motions, the
next second my heart was racing so fast I thought no amount of oxygen could
sustain it. I was shaking. The kitchen window was at my back, but I didn't dare
look through it. I had seen my dead mother, and now I had heard her voice. I had
broken parts of my body before, but this was the first time I worried I had
damaged my mind.
I stood there, my lungs heaving in and out, my eyes locked on the earth in
front of me. As kids, we'd called this our "backyard," but it was just a square
of grass. I thought about bounding across it to a neighbor's house.
And then the door opened.
And my mother stepped outside.
My mother.
Right there. On that porch.
And she turned to me.
And she said, "What are you doing out here? It's cold."
NOW, I DON'T know if I can explain the leap I made. It's like jumping off the
planet. There is everything you know and there is everything that happens. When
the two do not line up, you make a choice. I saw my mother, alive, in front of
me. I heard her say my name again. "Charley?" She was the only one who ever
called me that.
Was I hallucinating? Should I move toward her? Was she like a bubble that
would burst? Honestly, at this point, my limbs seemed to belong to someone else.
"Charley? What's the matter? You're all cut."
She was wearing blue slacks and a white sweater now-she was always dressed,
it seemed, no matter how early in the morning-and she looked to be no older
than the last time I had seen her, on her seventy-ninth birthday, wearing these
red-rimmed glasses she got as a present. She turned her palms gently upward and
she beckoned me with her eyes and, I don't know, those glasses, her skin, her
hair, her opening the back door the way she used to when I threw tennis balls
off the roof of our house. Something melted inside of me, as if her face gave
off heat. It went down my back. It went to my ankles. And then something broke,
I almost heard the snap, the barrier between belief and disbelief.
I gave in.
Off the planet.
"Charley?" she said. "What's wrong?"
I did what you would have done.
I hugged my mother as if I'd never let her go.
(Continues...)
Excerpted from FOR ONE MORE DAY
by Mitch Albom
Copyright © 2006 by Mitch Albom.
Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
Excerpts are provided by Dial-A-Book Inc. solely for the personal use of visitors to this web site.
carlsi2
Posted November 25, 2011
I Also Recommend:
This was a great interesting read. I enjoyed this one and hope the next book comes out soon.
6 out of 7 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.sweetpeaSP
Posted September 4, 2010
I Also Recommend:
This beautiful story touches the depth of the soul and makes us contemplate our fears, hopes and dreams. It forces us to question our mortality and of our loved ones. This is the story of Chick Benetto, a former professional baseball player. After middle age attacks Chick, he decides to take his own life after having lost both of his parents, his job and his marriage. Since his mother's death 8 years earlier, he'd been slowly drinking himself to death. Chick decides to visit his parent's boarded up home one last time before he puts the gun to his head. When he lets himself into the house he finds food cooking and a well-stocked house. He turns a corner. There stands is mother welcoming him with open arms. Chick has one last day with his mother, day to watch her work, to talk with her and sees his past the way it really was and not as he'd imagined it. Wouldn't we all love JUST ONE MORE DAY WITH SOMEONE WE LOVED AND LOST? Other good ones: THE FIVE PEOPLE WE MEET IN HEAVEN EXPLOSION IN PARIS THE BOY WHO CAME BACK FROM HEAVEN LET'S TAKE THE LONG WAY HOME THE SHACK
5 out of 5 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.readtolive_livetoread
Posted September 26, 2009
I Also Recommend:
Another one of the authors fine books! A heartwarming story and a glimpse into the lives of some folks that we learned to care very much about.
Has there ever been a person who did not wish For One More Day with a deceased loved one? This little book is a bit of wish fulfillment that is filled with hope and love. Charley Benetto is fortunate enough to get one more day with his deceased mother, as he lay dying in the grass after a botched suicide attempt. His mother teaches him lessons that help him to turn his broken life around, allowing him to reconcile with his daughter and begin leading a productive life. Ultimately I think this book hooked because I am a mother, and it made me think about the legacy that I want to leave in my childrens' eyes. It also made me think about my own childhood and my relationship with my parents. It doesn't take very long to read this book, but the warm fuzzies linger on for significantly longer. This is a wonderfully-intriguing story that is cleverly fashioned and highly recommended.
3 out of 3 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Out of the couple of books that I have read by Mitch Albom, this is definetly the best. Albom creates a dream like state in which the main character a former baseball player, is on a spiraling road to self destruction. When he tries to commit suicide he sees his mother who passed away years prior. He begins a wonderful and inspirational path to self forgiveness, and awareness. Mitch Albom layers his book very uniquely, where one chapter is the present, and the next is a memory. His journey is touching and up lifting. When you read this book you realize how wonderful your own parents are, and I know that I realized how I have tooken forgranted my parents. If you feel like having your spirits uplifted, you must read this novel.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.This was an incredibly touching book. It talks about a son who lost his mother and is down and out on his luck in life. He is older and his family isn't really loving him right now. He gets into an accident and finds himself face-to-face with his dead mother. He knows she's gone and she knows that too but somehow, they go about life as though she was not. He slyly asks her questions about her being ... well, not alive, and she gives him semi criptic answers.
He spends his day with his mother who tends to people's hair and families and he realizes that the people she is tending to are people who are about to pass on to the next life ... and beyond.
It is such a compelling book and Mitch Alboom does it again.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted September 6, 2009
I listened to the audio version of this Mitch Albom best seller. As with the print version of Tuesdays With Morrie, I cried almost all the way through. I love Albom's insights into the human experience. In this book he has written what can touch the hearts of all children and mothers.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted August 23, 2008
This was the assignment i had to read for my book club. I loved this book and as soon as i picked it up i couldn't put it down! This is definitly a tear jerker! You should read this book.
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted June 27, 2008
Wow...I read this book in one weekend. What an absolutely wonderful story that will tug at your heart and put your own loved ones and your life into perspective!
1 out of 1 people found this review helpful.
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Posted February 11, 2012
don't normally read books like this but couldn't put it down
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Anonymous
Posted February 4, 2012
This book made me think about my relationship with my own mother.
Was this review helpful? Yes NoThank you for your feedback. Report this reviewThank you, this review has been flagged.Linda_MS
Posted February 2, 2012
.
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Posted January 24, 2012
Hope you read and enjoy like i did,
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Posted January 11, 2012
Great short read and a true story recomend reading
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Posted January 5, 2012
Mitch takes the resader on a heartvwarmingg
In Mitch Albom's novel, For One More Day, the main character, Charles "Chick" Benitto is an aging man who is having trouble in his life. His childhood started well, but his father left when he was fairly young. Back then, divorce was greatly frowned upon and his family was considered a sort of disgrace by a lot of people. When Chick was little, his dad gave him a choice. He could either be a "mommy's boy" or a "daddy's boy". He chose to be the latter. This choice greatly influenced his life. Even after his father left, he continued to follow the path his dad had laid out for him. He dropped out of college to play minor league baseball because his father wanted him to. He played in an alumni game and missed his mother's last day because his father wanted him to. Chick's mother worked so hard to set up a great life for Chick. She always stood up for Chick and tried to give him lots of love and care, but Chick never returned the favor. He was too busy trying to keep up with his dad. Chick's baseball career only lasted about 5 years. A couple of years later, Chick's wife left him. Chick began drinking a lot and got fired from his job. Then he found out his daughter had gotten married and he had not even been told until his daughter sent him a short letter. This pushed him over the edge. He went drinking and drove away, planning to kill himself by morning. Then, Chick is involved in a bad crash and finds his mother, who has been dead for over 5 years. It appears he has one more day to fix things with his mother and his life. I really liked this book. It had a good story line and some ideas that require some thought. I had read the Mitch Albom book Five Days in Heaven before this, and I liked that book a lot better. I expected this novel to be just as good, if not better, but I was sadly disappointed. Overall, this book is definitely worth reading, but it may not be as satisfying as other Mitch Albom books. I give it 4 out of 5 stars.
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Posted January 1, 2012
If you have read and liked Mitch Alboms"The Five People You Meet In Heaven" you will like his "For One More Day".
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Posted December 30, 2011
Great short read and will a thought provoking
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Posted December 30, 2011
Perhaps it is due to the circumstances I am currently facing in my life atm but I found this book incredibly depressing and boring...I couldnt even finish it. I have never put a book away incomplete, until now. Disappointed.
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Posted December 22, 2011
I finished this in 2 DAYS amazing story!
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Posted December 6, 2011
Truly a heartwrenching story that we can all relate to.
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Overview
From the author of The Five People You Meet in Heaven and Tuesdays with Morrie, a new novel that millions of fans have been waiting for."Every family is a ghost story . . ."
Mitch Albom mesmerized readers around the world with his number one New York Times bestsellers, The Five People You Meet in Heaven and Tuesdays with Morrie. Now he returns with a beautiful, haunting novel about the family we love and the chances we miss.
For One More Day is the story of a mother and a son, and a relationship that covers a lifetime and beyond. It explores the question: What would you do if you could spend one more day with a lost ...