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Just Read It! smile
This is a wonderful story - worth sharing not only to
7 people but more. Let's continue to grow - strong
mind, body and spirit as we grow in age. Let's grow
old gracefully...joyfully...
Have a blessed day!
REMEMBER, 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 round 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 7 people except you and me. You
will receive a miracle tomorrow.
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."
 naibesmelaire2303 · Thu Aug 09, 2007 @ 06:54am · 0 Comments |
