A book that almost made me cry

I just finished reading the book "If you want to be rich and happy, don't go to school." Who woulda thunk that a book with a title like that would almost make me cry... OK, maybe it's because there's other stuff going on right now in my life, but the end of that book was extremely touching.

As you probably know, I've been very critical of our education system, so when I saw the title of this book I had to get it. It wasn't until I paged through it that I discovered it was written by Robert Kiyosaki, of Rich Dad Poor Dad fame. He actually wrote this book before Rich Dad Poor Dad, so it was refreshing to see what he wrote about prior to becoming so famous.

I really identify with Kiyosaki, I'm not sure if it's because we're both Asian Americans so we have a lot of background in common, or because he just by coincidence believes in a lot of the stuff I believe in. Throughout the book, there were instances where I read something that made me wonder if he'd been reading my blogs. Of course that's impossible because this book was written in 1992.

So what made me almost cry? It was the passages near the end of the book... he talks about his mom, and how she was always nagging him about studying. After an argument, he figured out it was because his mom felt like she didn't do as well as she could've in school, and wanted better for him. So he went to his mom, gave her a hug, and said "Thanks for being worried about me." (This sounds like a page out of my life, except with his mom being my dad).

And the last part was actually the Publisher's Note:

"The author's father, Ralph H. Kiyosaki, Ph.D., was given the first copy of the Australian edition of this book.
Most of Robert's life, he and his father had fought - sometimes quite bitterly - over their seemingly very different views of life. Dr. Kiyosaki had always believed that his son was only interested in money. He had thought that Robert's drive for wealth was selfish and that he was uncaring about the world's problems. However, after reading the book he changed his opinion of his son. He saw at last that Robert truly did have a higher purpose in mind - that his real interest in money had deep humanitarian roots.
Just six months after receiving the book, Ralph H. Kiyosaki passed away. This work succeeded in bringing father and son together, completing their relationship in a way that Robert could only have imagined."

Who would've thought that this guy will later turn out to be Poor Dad?