Found at Aspiring Community:

                                    Rose
 
                                                                  By: Dan Clark

      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 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 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 and 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 protective
      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 years 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.
 

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