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, have a couple of children, and
then retire and travel."
"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 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 the 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 years 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.
Submitted by Mike, Broomfield, Co.
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