Death is an enigmatic phenomenon with which humanity dances. Known to everyone at one time or another, death weaves its way through our lives and presents us with the reality of its finality and the truth of the unknown. Therefore, death brings with it the natural need to mourn the loss of those who have died. For most aging adults, death becomes a more obvious issue to address than in the past. Some adapt better than others to the inevitability of death, seeing it as the necessary conclusion to a long life, while others deny its approach and try to delay its onset as long as possible. The book and resulting film, Tuesdays with Morrie, are a didactic story of Mitch and his former college professor Morrie. Having been diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), commonly known as Lou Gehrig's disease, Morrie was left with only weeks to live (Albom, 1997). Lou Gehrig's disease is a… progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord. When motor neurons die, the brain's ability to initiate and control muscle movements is lost. The progressive degeneration of motor neurons in ALS ultimately leads to [the patient's] death (Alsa.org, 2014). Upon learning of his condition, Morrie asked himself, "Should I go away and disappear, or make the most of the time I have left?" ?" (Albom, 1997, p. 10). Faithful to his vocation as a teacher, he took advantage of his last days to present his last lesson: he would “cross this last bridge between life and death and tell the story of the journey” (Albom, 1997, p. 10). Albom, 1997, pp 10). As a dying adult, Morrie's story presents an encouraging message about what death means and how to approach it, showing how death itself can allow for growth and development. ... middle of paper ...... by our anticipated demise Morrie maintained this view and believed that death determines the way we live: “Everyone knows they are going to die but no one believes it. If we did, we would do things differently” (23) A study by Cicirelli (2001) showed that death is a motivating force for achieving life goals, but that it is higher for a cohort of people. young adults than for an aging cohort. This is partly attributed to the fact that middle-aged adults have already achieved their life goals and then set themselves minor tasks to complete before calling it quits. (Cicirelli, 2001). Therefore, even though death as a motivating force diminishes as life progresses, it remains a contributing factor to the individual's goal-directed behavior throughout their livelihood. Morrie supported this, saying that understanding what it means to die allows one to live a better life..