I beg of you. Please, please read this novella. It's amazing.First, I think I'm just going to come out and say it because I'm ready to commit. Fredrik Backman has become my favorite author. It's taking a great deal of restraint not to devour everything he has ever written in one fell swoop. Delayed gratification has never been my thing. I picked this one on a whim because I needed a quick diversion from some heavier reading materials. I had no idea what I was in for.I listened to the audiobook, and it was excellent. I loved the narrator. It was short - only about an hour long. When it ended, I sat in my car for about ten minutes trying to catch my breath and stop the tears from spilling out of my eyes. It's hard to describe what this story actually is. It's not really a story per se; it's more of a lengthy description of that place between life and death, and of an elderly man struggling to hold onto his memories. It's sort of a lengthy inner monologue. Backman said it best in his introduction - he's the kind of person who needs to get all of his thoughts on paper in order to make sense of them. Apparently, he never intended to publish this, but here we are.If I get too wordy here, my review will be longer than the novella itself. Normally I'd list my favorite quotes, but there are too many to keep track of. Truly, this story affected me so profoundly that as soon as I finished the audiobook, I bought a hard copy just so I can hold it in my hands and reread it every so often. I think this book struck a chord with me because it's about the struggle to hold on when it’s time to let go. As a parent, I constantly worry that I'm not paying close enough attention. Blink, and they're crawling. Blink, and they're walking. Blink, and they're going away to college and leaving you with an empty nest and an empty heart.Every year on their birthdays, I write each of my children a letter in a plain black journal. I plan to give it to them when they're older - maybe when they go to college, maybe when they have kids of their own. It was a tradition I started when I realized that there are so many tiny, seemingly insignificant moments in their lives that I will never be able to hold onto. But each moment is so perfect that I never want to forget. I want to remember how my son was so chubby that it looked like he constantly wore rubber bands around his wrists. I want to remember how my daughter, at six months old, had the laugh of an 80 year old pack-a-day smoker. There are a thousand little moments every day, and I can’t keep them all, no matter how hard I try. This short but powerful story is about the heartbreaking reality that at some point, we have to let go of the memories, the regrets, the traditions, and ultimately each other. It’s powerful and beautifully written.Just read it. Please. It's perfect.