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!"
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 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 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 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.
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.
Lord I love You and I need You.
Come into my heart, today.
For without You I can do nothing.
Unknown Author
++++++++++++++
The Rose
Some say love, it is a river that drowns the tender
reed.
Some say love, it is a razor that leaves your soul
to bleed.
Some say love, it is a hunger, an endless aching
need.
I say love, it is a flower, and you it's only seed.
It's the heart, afraid of breaking, that never
learns to dance.
It's the dream, afraid of waking, that never takes a
chance.
It's the one who won't be taken, who cannot seem to
give.
And the soul, afraid of dyin', that never learns to
live.
When the night has been too lonely, and the roads is
too long,
And you think that love is only for the lucky and
the strong,
Just remember in the winter far beneath the bitter
snows,
Lies the seed, that with the sun's love, in the
spring becomes The Rose
