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 round 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
years 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.
"Good friends are like stars... You don't always see them, but you know they
are always there.
