Mitch became ensnared in his work as a sports analyst and journalist. He neglected his fiancée and neglected to accomplish the things that matter most to a human being in life. Morrie was a well-known scholar and one of Mitch's college lecturers. Mitch was watching television one day and saw Morrie give an interview in which he stated that he was terminally ill with Lou Gehrig disease, or ALS.