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.
When you finish reading this, please send
this peaceful word of advice to your friends and family, they'll really
enjoy it!
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.
Pass this message
on to 7 people. You will receive a miracle tomorrow (if
you don't think so....look out
your window when you wake in the morning and think about it
)
If you choose not, then you refuse to bless
someone else.
'Good friends are like
stars..... ....
You don't always see them, but you know they are
always there.'