DREAMS

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 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 share

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 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.