The first day of school our professor introducedhimself 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'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
experiences with me.
Over the course of the year, Rose became a
campus icon and 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
and 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 protective 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 years 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 .
~author unknown~
A special thank you to Cal Korf for submitting this story.
