Growing Up Is Optional
Posted by: bigguyhereagain <bigguyhereagain@...>
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 non-stop. 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 inch 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 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.
These words have been passed along in loving memory of ROSE.
GROWING OLDER IS MANDATORY, GROWING UP IS OPTIONAL!
- Author unknown
Have a Blessed Day
Dave and Barbara
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