Happy Soul Food Friday!
This week:
- The Story of and Song about Rose
- “Best and Most Memorable Lines Ever.”
- If you are Local
- 12 Non-Profits Compete to Accelerate Change
- Why God Gave Us Puppies!
Hi Handsome. 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 months 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.
‘Good friends are like stars….. ….You don’t always see them, but you know they are always there.’
Speaking of the Rose…
“Best and Most Memorable Lines Ever.”
As the box office has been flat, this set of 100 quick movie clips in 10 minutes is pretty cool. Some of the “Best and Most Memorable Lines Ever.”
Once you start, you can’t stop watching.
If you are Local: 12 Non Profits Compete to Accelerate Change
On October 8th, from 5p – 8:30p is the Advance San Diego non-profit competition. 12 non-profits will
Compete for $87,500 in cash awards. Tickets are available at:
http://www.brownpapertickets.com/event/770839
Non-Profit Finalists competing are:
*Military and their Families*
Armed Services YMCA- Camp Pendleton
Biocom Institute
The Rosie Network
Support the Enlisted Project
*STEM *
DeepBlue Worlds, Inc.
Expanding Your Horizons
The Kid’s College
Ocean Discovery Institute
*Youth and the Arts *
The AjA Project
Dancing After School
Mainly Mozart
Musicians for Education
Outside the Lens
Why God gave us puppies!
Choose to have a happy day.
A man may smile and bid you hail
Yet wish you to the devil;
But when a good dog wags his tail,
You know he’s on the level.
Thanks this week go to Larry H, Marty G and all the fine folk at San Diego Social Venture Partners, and Heidi E who steadfastly helps me get Soul Food Friday out to you each week. Heidi said she loves puppies so here ya go 🙂
Pay it forward!
Love,
Neville
Happy Soul Food Friday! 