WILL AND TANYA'S HOME |
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You're never too old to be young
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, 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 am getting one.
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 everyday.
"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 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.
Remember,
GROWING OLDER IS MANDATORY,
GROWING UP IS
OPTIONAL.