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'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 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, 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."
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