The irresistible story of Rose - Growing older is mandatory, growing up is optional
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 87 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 a chocolate milkshake. We
became instant friends.
Every day for
the next three months we would leave class together and talk non-stop. 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 humour 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…..YOU!!
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. It’s better to try and fail, than
fail to try.
"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 soul
the seed.
It's a heart afraid of breaking, That never learns to dance;
It's the dream, afraid of waking, That never takes the chance;
Its the one who won't be taken, Who cannot seem to give;
And the soul, afraid of dying, That never learns to live.
When the night has been too lonely, And the road has been
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.
________________________________________
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