"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 of 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 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.

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 the 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.

A well-known Speaker started off his Seminar by holding up a $20 Bill.
In the room of 200, he asked, "Who would like this $20 bill?"
Hands started going up. He said,
"I am going to give this $20 to one of you but first, let me do this,"

He proceeded to crumple the dollar bill up.
He then asked, "Who still wants it?"
Still the hands were up in the air.
"Well," he replied, "what if I do this?"
And he dropped it on the ground and started to grind it into the floor with his shoe.
He picked it up, now all crumpled and dirty.
"Now who still wants it?"
Still the hands went into the air.

My friends, You have all learned a very valuable Lesson.
No matter what I did to the money,
You still wanted it because it did not decrease in Value.
It was still worth $20.

Many times in our Lives,
We are Dropped, Crumpled, and Ground into the Dirt
By the Decisions we make
And the Circumstances that come our way.
We feel as though we are Worthless.
But no matter what has happened or
What will happen,
YOU Will Never Lose YOUR Value In God's Eyes.

To Him, Dirty or Clean, Crumpled or Finely Creased,

To Him, Dirty or Clean, Crumpled or Finely Creased,
You are still Price-less to Him.

A Boy's Temper

There once was a little boy who had a bad temper. His father gave him a bag of nails and told him that every time he lost his temper, he must hammer a nail into the fence.

The first day the boy had driven 37 nails into the fence. Over the next few weeks as he learned to control his anger, the number of nails hammered daily gradually dwindled down. He discovered it was easier to hold his temper than to drive those nails into the fence.

Finally the day came when the boy didn't lose his temper at all. He told his father about it and the father suggested that the boy now pull out one nail for each day that he was able to hold his temper. The days passed and the young boy was finally able to tell his father that all the nails were gone.

The father took his son by the hand and led him to the fence. He said "you have done well, my son, but look at the holes in the fence. The fence will never be the same. When you say things in anger, they leave a scar just like this one." You can put a knife in a man and draw it out. It won't matter how many times you say I'm sorry, the wound is still there. Make sure you control your temper the next time you are tempted to say something you will regret later.

Author Unknown

Be My Valentine Walk with me in love.... Talk to me about what you cannot say to others Laugh with me even when you feel silly Cry with me when you are most upset Share with me all the beautiful things in life Fight with me against all the ugly things in life Create with me dreams to follow Have fun with me in whatever we do Work with me towards common goals Dance with me to the rhythm of our love Walk with me throughout life Let us hug each other at every step in our journey ...forever in love. ~Susan Polis Schutz~

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