Never Give Up on Your Dreams

[Kari126]

I just had to share this story.  There are times I feel like giving up on my dreams and every time I just want to quit I ready this story.  Please enjoy and never give up.

My Name is Rose

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.

Pass this message on to 7 people. You will receive a miracle tomorrow (
if you don't think so...look out your window when you
wake in the morning and think about it )

If you choose not, then you refuse to bless
someone else.

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