GROWING OLDER IS MANDATORY. GROWING UP IS OPTIONAL

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's never too late

to be all you can possibly be.

When you finish reading this,

please send this peaceful word of advice

to your friends and family,

they'll really enjoy it!

These words have been passed along

in loving memory of ROSE.

REMEMBER,

GROWING OLDER IS MANDATORY.

GROWING UP IS OPTIONAL.

We make a Living by what we get,

We make a Life by what we give.

God promises a safe landing,

not a calm passage.

If God brings you to it,

He, will bring you through it.

Pass this message to all except you and me.

If you choose not,

then you refuse to bless someone else.

"Good friends are like stars...   

You don't always see them,

but you know they are always there."

__._,_.___