I saw this story posted on Facebook this morning and thought
it needed to be shared. I don’t know who
wrote it and I attempted to verify if it was true or not but all I could find
was that it’s “Unverified.” So it cannot
be proved untrue either. I choose to
believe it’s true and the message is good either way. Enjoy.
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 round 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. 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."
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