Hi, Nancy,
I really like this. Thanks for sharing it with us.
Rosie
-----Original Message-----
From: ourplace-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx [mailto:ourplace-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx] On ;
Behalf Of Nancy Lynn
Sent: Sunday, February 14, 2016 3:21 PM
To: mcb chat <chat@xxxxxxxxxxx>
Subject: [ourplace] Hi Handsome, My Name is Rose.
Education is NOT the learning of facts
but the training of the mind to THINK. -- Albert Einstein
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 experiences 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 months 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 on to 7 people. You will receive a miracle tomorrow (if you don't think
so....look out your window when you wake in the morning and think about it)
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.
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