.
A
LESSON FROM ROSE
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, 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 earning 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 easily made
friends wherever she went. She reveled in the attention bestowed
upon her from the other students. She was really "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, Rose
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 westop playing.
There are only four secrets to staying
young,
being happy, and achieving success.
1- "You have to laugh and find humor
every day."
2- "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!"
3- "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-sevenyears 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."
4- "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 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 are meant to be!
Get going!
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