Dream Will Come True
The first day of school
one of my classmates began a talk with me
that changed my life.
She said, "Hi, handsome.
My name is Rose.
I'm eighty-seven years old."
"Why are you in college at such an age?"
I asked.
"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.
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 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
each and 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 they don't even know it.
There is a giant 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 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.