My brother Brian forwarded me the below story. I can’t vouch for its literal truth. But the message of this woman’s life and attitude rings true. Enjoy it and live it.

Rose’s Story

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 o ther 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 f or what w e 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!

Spring Break had washed up on the Florida Panhandle. Thousands of college kids covered the beaches like migratory seals beached during mating season, surrounded by millions of discarded beer cans. I was heading toward Panama City Beach – the epicenter of all the madness – on my way to California.

I called ahead for a place to camp on the beach. When I asked the guy if his campground was quiet he laughed – “Quiet, are you kidding? It’s Spring Break. It’s all day and all night.” I imagined loud throbbing sounds and screaming drunks throughout the night. I hesitated and told him I’d call back.

As I drove on down the road it dawned on me that I was turning into an old man – more worried about a night’s sleep and a good bowel movement than leaping into an outrageous all night party. I couldn’t let such rigamordous set in yet. I called back and booked a campsite. I wasn’t dead yet.

As I got closer to Panama City Beach the traffic crawled to a stop and became a giant tailgating party. Trucks, cars and motorcycles revved and honked as the college kids screamed and howled with high octane testosterone.

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I got to the beach just in time to see the sun setting over the beer can littered beach. The scene screamed reckless party. Tomorrow I’d get an earlier start.

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The sun went down and I got set for the nighttime party scene. Sleeping would be futile. I sucked down an energy drink and dove into the clubs on the beach. At my age I was a crasher. But in the dark and with the right clothes, I could almost pass for youngish to those who were drunk. With hard liquor I might even be mistaken for young – or so I hoped.

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I moved through the nightclubs snapping photos. Vanity is a powerful force and merely smiling and pointing the camera at them was all it took to get most partiers to strike a pose.   Only one drunk redneck got angry and said he didn’t want to end up on a gay website. I told him he’d have to loose the beer belly to live that dream.

Like you, I ended up only getting to look (ok, some touching). I went to bed to the sound of trucks, cars and motorcycles revving and honking as the children of the night screamed and howled. What sounds they make.

The next morning I stumbled back on to the beach. I think the photos tell the story so I’ll shut up and let you gawk.

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Next Stop – The Redneck Riviera

It was “last call” for life in South Florida for me. I was packed and ready to hit the road. I had only three days left in South Florida and I planned to make them my best three days. The beautiful and charming Polish Princess flew into Fort Lauderdale from Chicago and we drove down to South Beach and checked in to the National Hotel.

She had never seen South Beach. So it was mandatory that she experience staying at an art deco hotel with an elegant private pool on the edge of the white sands of south beach. Our back yard was the pool, the beach and the ocean, while our front yard was the party club land of South Beach.

We swam, fine dined and partied and then headed down to the Florida Keys to relax together. It was a fabulous three days. If only life could be such a fairy tale – for more than just three days.

Next Stop – The fabulous Florida Keys

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I’ve always had a love hate relationship with South Florida (see “Florida – A Love Hate Story“). I love the warm tropical waters and the fun in the sun. Yet the generally vacuous, vain and materialistic mind set of South Florida made living there feel like having sex with a seductive whore – satisfying at first but ultimately empty.

The overall “climate” of a place depends on much more than just the weather. It’s the people and the “vibe” that matter most. After road tripping North American for almost two years, I’ve decided that Northern California, just north of the Golden Gate Bridge is the right climate for me (see “Paradise Found”).

But now that I’ve packed my car for the road trip to California, I feel what I will be leaving behind:

• Rollerblading through the tree and along the water at Hugh Taylor Birch Park.

• Grilling at the park and watching the sunset over the intercostal waterway.

• Seeing the beautiful boats floating by.

• The friends I’ve grown to love.

• Kayaking in the waterways of Fort Lauderdale and seeing the occasional manatee.

• Seeing the many beautiful women from South America, Europe and the USA.

• Swimming in the ocean and diving into the warm waves.

• Warm soft Caribbean breezes in January . . .

The list of what I’m leaving behind is a long one. But travel has taught me how to let go and move on – to trade one beautiful place for another.

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Florida, thanks for all the wonderful moments and crazy good times that are now part of my life.

Next Stop – Glamorous South Beach and the Keys