丹·克拉克/Dan Clark
The first day of school our professor introduced himself to our chemistry class 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 children, and then retire and travel.”
“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 school year, Rose became a campus icon and 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 and 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 bit 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: