Growing
Old ...
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 as to 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, shared a chocolate
milkshake, and 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 no 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.
Then 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
to 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!
