An 87 Year Old College Student Named Rose
\nThe first day of school our professor introduced himself and challenged us to get to know someone we didn\u2019t already know.
\nI stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder. I turned round to find a wrinkled, little old lady beaming up at me
\nwith a smile that lit up her entire being.
\nShe said, \u201cHi handsome. My name is Rose. I\u2019m eighty-seven years old. Can I give you a hug?\u201d
\nI laughed and enthusiastically responded, \u201cOf course you may!\u201d and she gave me a giant squeeze.
\n\u201cWhy are you in college at such a young, innocent age?\u201d I asked.
\nShe jokingly replied, \u201cI\u2019m here to meet a rich husband, get married, and have a couple of kids\u2026\u201d
\n\u201cNo seriously,\u201d I asked. I was curious what may have motivated her to be taking on this challenge at her age.
\n\u201cI always dreamed of having a college education and now I\u2019m getting one!\u201d she told me.
\nAfter class we walked to the student union building and shared a chocolate milkshake. We became instant friends. Every day for the
\nnext three months, we would leave class together and talk nonstop. I was always mesmerized listening to this \u201ctime machine\u201d
\nas she shared her wisdom and experience with me.
\nOver 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.
\nAt the end of the semester we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet. I\u2019ll never forget what she taught us. She was
\nintroduced and stepped up to the podium.
\nAs 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, \u201cI\u2019m sorry I\u2019m so jittery. I gave up beer for Lent and this whiskey is killing me! I\u2019ll never get my speech back in order so let me just tell
\nyou what I know.\u201d
\nAs we laughed she cleared her throat and began, \u201cWe do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop
\nplaying. There are only four secrets to staying young, being happy, and achieving success. You have to laugh and find humor every day.
\nYou\u2019ve got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die.
\nWe have so many people walking around who are dead and don\u2019t even know it!There is a huge difference between growing
\nolder and growing up.
\nIf you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don\u2019t do one productive thing, you will turn twenty years old.
\nIf I am eighty-seven years old and stay in bed for a year and never do anything I will turn eighty-eight.
\nAnybody can grow older. That doesn\u2019t take any talent or ability. The idea is to grow up by always finding opportunity in change.
\nHave no regrets.
\nThe elderly usually don\u2019t have regrets for what we did, but rather for things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those
\nwith regrets.\u201d
\nShe concluded her speech by courageously singing \u201cThe Rose.\u201d
\nShe challenged each of us to study the lyrics and live them out in our daily lives.
\nAt the year\u2019s end Rose finished the college degree she had begun all those years ago. One week after graduation Rose died
\npeacefully in her sleep.
\nOver two thousand college students attended her funeral in tribute to the wonderful woman who taught by example that it\u2019s
\nnever 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\u2019ll really enjoy it!
\nThese words have been passed along in loving memory of ROSE.
\nREMEMBER, GROWING OLDER IS MANDATORY. GROWING UP IS
\nOPTIONAL.
\nWe make a Living by what we get, We make a Life by what we give.“<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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