I know this email has made its way around a couple of times but I think I like it because it reminds me of my Grandma, or maybe my aunt. I share it hear because I think the meaning is very powerful:

Lovely Rose at 87

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 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.


....."Good friends are like stars........You
don't always see them, but you
know they are always there."