The first
day of school our professor introduced himself and challenged us to get to know
someone we didn't already know. I stood up to look around when a gentle hand
touched my shoulder. I turned
around to find a wrinkled, little old lady beaming up at me with a smile that
lit up her entire being.
She said,
'Hi handsome. My name is Rose. I'm eighty-seven years old. Can I give you a
hug?' I laughed
and enthusiastically responded, 'Of course you may!' and she gave me a giant squeeze.
'Why are you
in college at such a young, innocent age?' I asked.
She jokingly
replied, 'I'm here to meet a rich husband, get married, and have a couple of
kids...'
'No
seriously,' I asked. I was curious what may have motivated her to be taking on
this challenge at her age.
'I always
dreamed of having a college education and now I'm getting one!' she told
me. After class
we walked to the student union building and shared a chocolate milkshake.
We became
instant friends. Every day for the next three months we would leave class
together and talk nonstop. I was always mesmerized listening to this 'time
machine' as she shared her wisdom and experience with me.
Over the
course of the year, Rose became a campus icon and she easily made friends wherever
she went. She loved to dress up and she reveled in the attention bestowed upon
her from the other students. She was living it up.
At the end
of the semester we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet. I'll never
forget what she taught us. She was introduced and stepped up to the podium. As
she began to deliver her prepared speech, she dropped her three by five cards
on the floor.
Frustrated
and a little embarrassed she leaned into the microphone and simply said, 'I'm
sorry I'm so jittery. I gave up beer for lent and this whiskey is killing me! I'll never get my speech back in order so let me just tell you what I
know.'
As we
laughed she cleared her throat and began, ' We do not stop playing because we
are old; we grow old because we stop playing.
There are
only four secrets to staying young, being happy, and achieving success. You
have to laugh and find humor every day. You've got to have a dream. When you
lose your dreams, you die. We have so
many people walking around who are dead and don't even know it!
There is a
huge difference between growing older and growing up.
If you are
nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don't do one productive
thing, you will turn twenty years old. If I am eighty-seven years old and stay
in bed for a year and never do anything I will turn eighty-eight. Anybody
can grow older. That doesn't take any talent or ability. The idea is to grow up
by always finding opportunity in change. Have no regrets.
The
elderly usually don't have regrets for what we did, but rather for things we
did not do. The only people who fear death are those with regrets.
She
concluded her speech by courageously singing 'The Rose.' She challenged
each of us to study the lyrics and live them out in our daily lives.
At the
year's end Rose finished the college degree she had begun all those months
ago. One week after graduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep. Over
two thousand college students attended her funeral in tribute to the wonderful
woman who taught by example that it's never too late to be all you can possibly
be.
These words
have been passed along in loving memory of ROSE.
REMEMBER,
GROWING OLDER IS MANDATORY. GROWING UP IS OPTIONAL.
We make a
Living by what we get.
We make a Life by what we give.
God promises
a safe landing, not a calm passage.
If God
brings you to it, He will bring you through it.
'Good friends are like stars . . . you don't always see them,
but you know they are always there.'
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