Widely popular author of best-selling books, Tuesdays with Morrie, The Five People You Meet in Heaven, and The Five Jerks You Meet on Earth , this is Mitch Albom’s lastest, For One More Day.
This the PERFECT gift to give anyone. I bought a few copies to have as an “emergency” gifts and I have also given as hostess gift.
It is sad but very moving and bittersweet. I read it fairly quickly and wish I could have slowed down to savour.

The premise of the book is :

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.

The books was recently filmed as a made for TV movie, produced by Oprah Winfrey ( I also watched the movie and wasn’t nearly as good as the book- sorry!)

I heard Ricki Lake , of the FIRST Hairspray fame.. talk show host etc on the radio last week. I was never a fan- she is just a celebrity that is under the radar for me. However- I was surprised by a few things she said in the interview. She is out promoting her movie- a documentary called The Business of being Born, opening wide January 9, 2008. There are many pre-screening available- you can visit site to check.
The Business of being Born:

Birth: it’s a miracle. A rite of passage. A natural part of life. But more than anything, birth is a business. Compelled to find answers after a disappointing birth experience with her first child, actress Ricki Lake recruits filmmaker Abby Epstein to examine and question the way American women have babies. The film interlaces intimate birth stories with surprising historical, political and scientific insights and shocking statistics about the current maternity care system. When director Epstein discovers she is pregnant during the making of the film, the journey becomes even more personal. Should most births be viewed as a natural life process, or should every delivery be treated as a potentially catastrophic medical emergency?

Ricki Lake is executive producer of the film. I though “oh God.. here goes a celebrity telling people how to have a baby…” and prepared myself to be annoyed and hear the usual prattle about hospitals, nannies and bottle feeding.
I was quite surprised. This is what I heard in her interview.
– She is a BIG proponent of home births siting statistics about the dreadful infant mortality rate in United States. They have the 2nd highest rate of infant mortality in the world- Ricki Lake blames hospital germs, etc for this.
– She had a home water birth.
-she used a mid-wife
-because of breast reduction surgery in 1991 she bought she was not able to supply enough milk for her so- she used a milk bank. BRAVO!!!

– She was candid, SMART, funny and honest. I am now considering myself a fan and will make a point of seeing this movie and promote it as best I can. I am quite excited to see it.