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 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 is never too late
to be all you can possibly be.
