The Next Person You Meet in Heaven

One of the main lessons that Annie learns during her time in heaven is the extent to which all people are connected. Every event and choice in Annie’s life affected people beyond herself, and Annie is unaware of the full extent of this fact until she meets her five people. She finds out that “no story sits by itself” and that people’s lives “connect like threads on a loom, interwoven in ways [they] never realize” (12), which means that small decisions often lead to major consequences that can ripple out for decades and in unpredictable ways. Examples of this include Annie’s decision to help Tolbert with his flat tire, which affected her choice to go for a hot air balloon ride; Paulo’s decision to talk to Annie in the playground, which eventually led to their marriage; and Lorraine’s decision to leave Annie alone at Ruby Pier, which meant she wasn’t around to stop Annie from going under the falling ride. Every minor event in Annie’s life and in the lives of the people she meets connects with and affects the next: “One change blows in another” (19). This realization helps Annie gain