Before I Go: Letters to Our Children about What Really Matters

Most parents have no trouble telling their children how to dress, drive, study, or shave, but struggle to talk with them about how best to live—about real love, faith, integrity, values, true enrichment, and success. In the tradition of Tuesdays With Morrie, Catholic philosopher Peter Kreeft shares with us the wisdom that he has compiled for his children as his best gift to them. Readable and browsable, these heart to heart chats present priceless truths to live by in a casual yet compelling way.

About the Author :
Peter Kreeft has been featured on the PBS series "The Question of God." He is professor of philosophy at Boston College and lives in West Newton, Massachusetts.

Review :
This extraordinary book is a collection of luminous, practical, edifying, and hilarious insights into life—into real love. They are the heritage that the author/father, easing into the end phase of his life, has garnered from long experience and deep reflection, and which he seeks to pass down to his children and grandchildren, and the coming generations. Kreeft's 'last words' are in turn wise, witty, earthy, pithy, and frequently sublime. This is neither an abstract tome nor a 'how-to' manual. It's simply a treasure that should be handed out gratis to all young couples planning to be married—in fact, to all those embarking on the human adventure. In a word—to everyone. Kreeft's latest book, presented as homey advice about life to his own children, appears deceptively simple, but it is profound and thought-provoking. This is no surprise for all Kreeft fans, myself included. Peter Kreeft exhibits four gifts: he writes beautifully, he has a sense of humor, he really loves wisdom, and he is not afraid to share that love. Fortunate the young people into whose hands falls this book. Readers rightly look for both wit and sagacity from Peter Kreeft. They will find both in this book. But they will find that both spring from the heart of a very wise father who walks with the Father of us all. The book offers 163 lessons for the good life based on Kreeft's own experiences and study and just plain living (more than six decades). It is common sense delivered with uncommon ease and sincerity. The reader—and this is a book for all ages—will stop often along the way, so obvious are these bits of wisdom we fail to remember. Topics range broadly: making choices wisely, prioritizing, handling worry, time management, prayer life, sacrifices, marriage and family, keeping a chapbook, love, death. Before I Go belongs in every Christian family's library, to be dipped into often. Little books of advice such as the Chicken Soup series or Tuesdays at Morrie's have been popular for a long time now. Here is one that is just as interesting, just as easy to read, but far more profound—because, of course, it is far more Catholic. Apologist and philosopher Peter Kreeft is at his best with this collection of 163 mini-essays. . . . It's everything you want your children to understand about life, love, and God, expressed with Kreeft's keen wit. These 'chats' are worth reading or re-reading for a lifetime. . . . They are all well-written, and important. Reading Before I Go will be a pure pleasure for the thoughtfully reflective, and a valuable gift for many parents to use in passing on wise words to their children before they lose the ability to say those final, important words.