Tomorrow Will be a Good Day: My Autobiography Captain Tom by Tom Moore

 

From Goodreads

Who is Captain Sir Tom Moore? You've seen him on the television walking the length of his garden. A frail elderly man, doing his bit at a time of crisis. But he wasn't always like this.

From a childhood in the foothills of the Yorkshire Dales, Tom Moore grew up in a loving family, which wasn't without its share of tragedy. It was a time of plenty and of want. When the storm clouds of the Second World War threatened, he raised his hand and, like many of his generation, joined up to fight.

His war would take him from a country he had never left to a place which would steal his heart, India, and the Far East, to which he would return many years later to view the sight he had missed first time around: the distant peak of Everest.

Captain Tom's story is our story. It is the story of our past hundred years here in Britain. It's a time which has seen so much change, yet when so much has stayed the same: the national spirit, the can-do attitude, the belief in doing your best for others. 

My thoughts

I gave this 5 stars or 10/10.

Most of us will have heard about Captain Tom and how he became famous during the Corona Virus pandemic of 2020 and how he walked and kept on walking to raise money, but not many of us know about his life and all that he has been through. In Tomorrow Will be a Good Day, we get an insight into who Captain Tom Moore really is.

This is a book that spans a 100 years in the life of a man that until the current Corona Virus World Wide pandemic hit the headlines in 2020, most of us had never heard of. He has lead an interesting life over those 100 years and this book chronicles his life time achievements and what his family life has been like in that time. 

I found it a very interesting read and if you ever get the chance to read it, then please do as I am sure that you will enjoy it as much as I have.  He comes across as a very humble and at times wise man, with his wise words.

Passages that resonated with me.

Chapter 21.

'Some people can't bear the thought of death, but I draw strength from it.  It is the certainty that makes me so convinced that tomorrow will be a good day.  Enjoy what you have today and don't be miserable about it.'

Also from Chapter 21.

'Each time another epidemic happens, there's widespread panic, but when you've lived to a 100 you come to appreciate that nothing is new. When people die it is all very worrying and sad, of course, but we do get through it and I sometimes think that the media could be a bit less pessimistic. I'm probably being too simplistic, but I believe there are always two ways of looking at things: they could draw us a graph of how bad things are, or they could draw us a graph of how things are improving. Instead of giving the percentage of people affected ad dying, why not give us the percentage of those who've had it and survived?'

The closing line of the book.

As he learned how much had been raised in 26 days on his Birthday his thought was ~ 'It was the perfect end to the perfect day.'

The final paragraph from the Epilogue.

'When I said tomorrow is a good day right at the beginning of this grand adventure, everybody really latched on to that, and that became the message of my walk and of my life. It is also the message of the Captain Tom Foundation, because it sums up what we all want to feel and hope for. If we make it until tomorrow, then that is a good day in itself. So, even if tomorrow is my last day, if all those I loved are waiting for me then tomorrow will be a good day too.'

My final thoughts.

Captain Sir Tom you have touched the hearts of the Nation and the World, your memory will live on forever.  You will always be remembered for your wise words 'Tomorrow will be a good day.' 

God bless you Sir, for all that you have done in being a beacon of hope for many and your legacy will live on in the Captain Tom Foundation.