IT IS NEVER TOO LATE TO GO FOR THE DREAMS ON YOUR HEART with “The Rose” by Bette Midler
The inspiring story of an 87 year old lady who goes back to school to realize her lifelong dream of attaining a college education and the amazing impact she has on the other students.
THE DAWNING LIGHT Volume 7, Number 381 Thursday August 3, 2023
A story about an 87 year old woman named Rose, who enrolled in and went back to school to fulfill a lifelong dream to get a college education and the impact her wit and determination had on the other students.
ON THE FIRST DAY IN COLLEGE….
On 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 for someone, when a gentle hand touched my shoulder.
I turned round 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.
Photo Credit: Pixabay
“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.
Photo Credit: Pixabay
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 doesn’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.”
Photo Credit: Pixabay
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! (This note was posted by the author, which is why we have chosen to republish this story here on “The Dawning Light”)
These words have been passed along in loving memory of ROSE.
Photo Credit: Pixabay
REMEMBER, GROWING OLDER IS MANDATORY.
GROWING UP IS OPTIONAL.
“Living with a dream that you are seeking to fulfill, that you are passionate about and that you want with all your heart is the fire and light and love that ignites your abilities, taps into the full expression of your talents and makes life meaningful and worth living .”
—Chinmayan
“We make a Living by what we get, but we make a Life by what we give."
—Winston Churchill
Photo Credit: Pixabay
This wonderful story was written by Nadeesha Nirmal and was originally published in Weird and Beautiful Things on Facebook
Lightly edited for clarity by Chinmayan.
All copyright rights retained by the author, and no infringement is intended by Inner Resource Institute
Photo Credit: Nadeesha Nirmal Rose in class in pursuit of her dream…
The Rose….Lyrics Some say love, it is a river That drowns the tender reed Some say love, it is a razor That leaves your soul to bleed Some say love, it is a hunger An endless aching need I say love, it is a flower And you, its only seed It's the heart, afraid of breaking That never learns to dance It's the dream, afraid of waking That never takes the chance It's the one who won't be taken Who cannot seem to give And the soul, afraid of dying That never learns to live When the night has been too lonely And the road has been too long And you think that love is only For the lucky and the strong Just remember in the winter Far beneath the bitter snows Lies the seed that with the sun's love In the spring becomes the rose. Lyrics by songwriter Amanda McBroom Performed by Bette Midler 1979
A VERY SPECIAL SONG THAT IS THE HEART OF THIS STORY:
“The Rose” with Lyrics Performed by Bette Midler
Calligraphy by Chinmayan
Image Credit: Still Mountain Meditation Center
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