Book Confessions of an Ex-Ballerina

Eddie is a wounded war veteran, an old man who has lived, in his mind, an uninspired life. His job is fixing rides at a seaside amusement park. On his 83rd birthday, a tragic accident kills him as he tries to save a little girl from a falling cart. He awakes in the afterlife, where he learns that heaven is not a destination. It's a place where your life is explained to you by five people, some of whom you knew, others who may have been strangers. One by one, from childhood to soldier to old age, Eddie's five people revisit their connections to him on earth, illuminating the mysteries of his "meaningless" life, and revealing the haunting secret behind the eternal question: "Why was I here?"

I picked up this book as a part of my Gilmore Girls reading list. It's not something that I would normally read, but I figured it was short and sounded interesting. The way the author lays Eddies life out before him as interactions between five different people who either he knew or had somehow shaped his life in someway, was just extraordinary. It put the life long question into perspective, "Why am I here?"

Eddie, who thought his entire life was a bland existence, comes to realize that his actions affected more than just himself, but sent others on their own paths. It wasn't until Eddie died, that he realized the impact he had on so many lives. It wasn't the boring life that he had always thought, but a meaningful existence.

I really enjoyed this read and hope that the next person that picks up this Gem will feel the same way.