On my first
day of college the 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 elderly
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, raise 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 nonstop. I was always mesmerized listening to this
"time machine" as she shared her wisdom and experience with me.
Over the
course of that 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. I am eighty-seven years old, and if I 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.
These words
have been passed along in loving memory of ROSE. REMEMBER, GROWING OLDER IS MANDATORY, GROWING UP IS OPTIONAL!!