《five_people_you_would_meet_in_heaven》.doc

The Five People You Meet in Heaven Mitch Albom ALSO BY MITCH ALBOM Tuesdays with Morrie Fab Five Bo Live Albom Live Albom II Live Albom III Live Albom IV The Five People You Meet in Heaven Mitch Albom NEW YORK YOU MADE ME LOVE YOU Copyright 1913 (Renewed) Broadway Music Corp, Edwin H. Morris Co., Redwood Music Ltd. All rights on behalf of Broadway Music Corp administered by Sony/ATV Music Publishing, 8 Music Square, Nashville, TN 37203. All rights reserved. Used by permission. Copyright ? 2003 Mitch Albom All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the written permission of the Publisher. Printed in the United States of America. For information address: Hyperion, 77 West 66th Street, New York, New York 10023-6298. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Albom, Mitch. The five people you meet in heaven / Mitch Albom. p. cm. ISBN 0-7868-6871-6 (alk. paper) 1. Accident victims—Fiction. 2. Amusement parks—Fiction. 3. Amusement rides—Fiction. 4. Future life—Fiction. 5. Aged men—Fiction. 6. Heaven-Fiction. 7. Death—Fiction. I. Title. PS3601.L335F59 2003 813.6-dc21 2003047888 Hyperion books are available for special promotions and premiums. For details contact Michael Rentas, Manager, Inventory and Premium Sales, Hyperion, 77 West 66th Street, 11th floor, New York, New York 10023-6298, or call 212-456-0133. FIRST EDITION This book is dedicated to Edward Beitchman, my beloved uncle, who gave me my first concept of heaven. Every year, around the Thanksgiving table, he spoke of a night in the hospital when he awoke to see the souls of his departed loved ones sitting on the edge of the bed, waiting for him. I never forgot that story. And I never forgot him. Everyone has an idea of heaven, as do most religions, and they should all be respected. The version represented here is only a guess, a wish, in some ways, that my uncle, and others like him—people who felt unimportant here on earth—realize, finally, how mu