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 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 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 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.
In
Christ,
Janet Irene Thomas
Playwright/Director/Screen Writer
Producer/Gospel Lyricist/Author
Founder/CEO
Bible Stories Theatre of
Fine & Performing Arts
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