downtownv
09-01-2015, 09:53 AM
Her Name is 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, 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.'
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, 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.'