This was a forwarded email, but a nice story and life lesson nonetheless. To those who are living long and living life, and to those who are constantly learning, here’s to you! HAPPY BIRTHDAY! Lola.

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 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.

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.

This issue can be so funny if it wasn’t for the deeper implications it raises. Here is an article about another book that is being criticized for a word used within the first pages. What one word could possible raise such a ruckus? SCROTUM. Did that shock you? Did it offend your moral sensibilities to hear the word?

It doesn’t really do anything for me but apparently it raises the hackles of some people. I have to admit that I hadn’t read the book yet, but I will just to see what the fuss is about.

The children’s book written by Susan Patron, The Higher Power of Luckyis this year’s Newberry Medal winner and it is recommended for children from grades 4-6. The story is about a 10 year old girl named Lucky whose mother is struck by lightning and dies. Lucky’s father then asks his ex-wife to take care of Lucky while he is off elsewhere. This is about Lucky and her friends going through the usual angsts of growing up, and growing up without her real parents at that.

The fuss about the book comes about from the reference to the dog’s scrotum being bit by a snake (sounds pretty funny to me) at the beginning of the story. Apparently, because of this word, the work becomes unsuitable for reading aloud, and some would even insist not suitable for reading in silence either. Because of the S word. I do not understand what is so wrong with the word. It is the correct term for that body part, right? That body part does exist and not just an imagined perversion, correct? So you would call your head a head, your arm an arm and not think twice about it; so why not call a scrotum a scrotum? I tried to think of other euphemisms (some have suggested it could have been implied in another way) but could only come up with balls. How about you? How many other ways can you call “the thing”?

I know many of us were raised with funny (and I really do mean funny)
ideas about sexuality, but I would like to think that as we grew older and more educated that we have shed some of the puritan ideas we have about sex. I remember my mom having a hard time explaining sex to us and even referred us to the dictionary when cornered with a word she couldn’t explain without blushing. I’d like to think I’m a little better with my girls. At least they know their ‘thing’ is called a vagina and not ‘pek-pek’. OK, my mom will argue that pekpek is a word. Yes, but it’s a ilocano/filipino word and even at that it is not the proper name for the proper name is also considered vulgar even in the Philippines. Thank goodness for a second language to mask our inhibitions about calling body parts their proper names! But really, what is it about calling IT by it’s proper name? Why is that bad?

Besides, most kids nowadays, unless they have been cloistered, will know all these terms by the time they are 9 or sooner (and at least 10 euphemisms to boot). At least mine do… and sometimes in a second language, even!

Words are only dirty when you make them to be.

I really love connecting and re-connecting with my family and friends but sometimes it can be so tiring! I think as I got older, I became more adept at avoiding negativity especially coming from friends and acquaintances. I’m having difficulty with family. That’s how it usually is with family though. I understand that. They are not as easy to just let go.

As much as I love having friends, superficial friends are usually very easy for me to let go without even missing a breath. I had a friend that I liked very much when I was still single. We did a lot of partying together and just had fun times. I wouldn’t put her in the category of close and intimate though, just party and fun friend. When the time came for me to get married, my true friends and most of my family were supportive of my decision and my choice. When I announced my plans to this friend she made one simple and glib comment: “oh, but your house will become dark now”. No, she wasn’t lamenting the end of my bachelorhood; it was a sly reference to the fact that I was marrying someone who is black. No, I didn’t get mad at her then, I didn’t bother trying to change her mind either. I just made that be the last of our conversation.

While visiting the Philippines the other month, a matter of fact comment was made that has stuck with me since like an itch I couldn’t scratch. While going through the ritual of catching up; asking how is so and so, and how are they doing, where they live now, how many kids, etc. Out of nowhere, someone commented rather casually to me, “I heard Sister O is the luckiest of all you three”. Huh? Now I have never very been very quick on the uptake and it usually takes underhanded comments to sink in with me, so this time was no different. I suppose I should have asked for clarification what they meant by that comment. But, knowing the source, I can only deduce that by ‘lucky’ she meant ‘wealthy’. So I said, “if you mean that she has the bigger house and the bigger bank account, then I suppose yes, she is the luckiest” and left if at that. Now I wish I hadn’t.

I wish I had said that all three of us were lucky. We’re lucky because we are still alive and relatively healthy. We’re lucky because we have been blessed with square shoulders for our normal sized heads to sit on. We’re lucky because even when we’ve been unlucky in life, we never used it as an excuse to hurt someone else. We’re lucky because even though we don’t have riches, what little blessings we have in our life we earned by honest means. We are lucky we were blessed with bright and independent minds that do not need validation from others. We are lucky that we genuinely love each other as sisters. We are lucky that we are surrounded by people who love us and accept us for the people that we have become.

I wish I had said all that and more, but I didn’t. I sat there and agreed because I didn’t want to be rude. But I should have, because the more I think about it, it was rather crass. Maybe I am a bit defensive too, that I didn’t get picked to be the ‘lucky’ one in their eyes. I hope not.

I hope I am not that shallow, because I do consider myself quite lucky. Nevermind that my house isn’t as big, my cup still runneth over. The third stanza to this poem sounds like it was written with me in mind.

I wasn’t going to copy and paste these rules to live by but when I chanced upon Rose’s blog with this question, I said to my self, why the heck not. So here it is, in answer to Rose’s question of the week, some rules to live by:

1. LEAVE THE PAST BEHIND
To move ahead in the future, you must free yourself from the past .
Clear up those cobwebs that bring nothing but gloom into your life.
The bad experiences hurt, and heartaches and miseries.
Step fresh into a “new life” each day by bringing with you only the best memories.

2. UNLOAD EXCESS BAGGAGE
As a rolling stone in life, you gather too much moss. You collect mountains of material possessions that take up too much of your space and time. Edit your belongings. Life will be so much easier if you travel light.

3. START WITH A CLEAN SLATE
It is better to start a painting on a clean canvass. Bathe your life and spruce up your act. Cleanse your soul and purify your spirit. And kick those bad habits away!

4. SHARPEN YOUR PENCILS
Be properly equipped. Your success depends on your keen sense on intuition, preparedness and dedicated work. Keep your aptitudes honed, willingness-ready and mind always sharp.

5. GET EXCITED
The excitement you get in life depends upon how excited you are to live it. Anticipate great things to come. Feel that you deserve them. Always expect nothing less than the very best!

6. HAVE A GREAT ATTITUDE
Your attitude affects your state of mind’s overall disposition. It determines how you act and react to people and situations. Have a great, new attitude to reach higher altitudes.

7. DWELL ON THE POSITIVE
There is nothing to be gained from wasting your time on negative things. Sift the good from the bad. See the blessings, not the miseries. Look at life through rose-colored glasses. Seek beauty, nobility and truth!

8. KNOW WHAT YOU WANT
If you don’t know what you want, you’ll never get it. You will never hit the target if you don’t know what and where it is. Know your goal and set your heart and eyes on it.

9. BE IN THE RIGHT PLACE
To succeed, you have to be in the right place. It is ridiculous to sell beachwear at the winter ski resort. Go to the right places. Get into the right circles. And be there in the right time!

10. DRESS UP FOR SUCCESS
What you project is what people see. You reveal your personality through your attire and the way you carry yourself. Dress up in clean, comfortable and proper clothes. You have only three seconds to make that crucial first impression!

11. GET OUTSIDE SUPPORT
You cannot fully succeed by doing it all alone. No man is an island and you cannot be educated enough to know it all. Employ the help of others. And strive to win their all-important trust and moral support!

12. GIVE IT TO GET IT
To get it, you must give it away. The most important things in life operate by the law of Cause and Effort. Love, happiness, understanding, compassion and even money — you must give them away first before you can receive them. Be aware that the law works on negative things, too, cause misery and it will strike back at you!

13. LIVE IN THE MOMENT
Yesterday is done; tomorrow is not yet come. You only have present, the very precious now. Make hay while there is day. And do it while you can!

14. PERSIST TILL YOU GET IT
A man died and found himself in front of St. Peter at the gates of heaven. He saw cars, appliances and wonderful things dumped on top of the clouds. He asked, “St. Peter, please tell me. What are those things?” St.Peter replied, “Those things were ordered by some people on earth but they hung up before we could ask where to have them delivered”. Don’t give up. Try and try until you succeed!

15. SHARE YOUR BOUNTIES
Life showers us with glorious gifts. The tallest and biggest castle in the world becomes a lonely prison if you have no one to share it with. Share your bounties; share your time. Show you care by doing your share!

16. HAVE A SENSE OF HUMOR
Cry and you cry alone, laugh and the world laughs with you! Keep your sense of humor. Laugh and stay wonderfully sane. Most importantly, learn to laugh at your mistake!

17. KEEP YOUR CHILDLIKE WONDER
Keep the childlike wonder. Live with wide-eyed enthusiasm. Be in constant awe. Never permit yourself to be dull or jaded. Experience everything as if it was your first time to experience it.

18. FLEX YOUR BODY
Your body is the temple of your soul. Make it powerful and strong to weather any storm. Feed it well. Keep it neat, healthy and well maintained. Move the body and flex those muscles. Don’t be a couch potato, be alive and be on the go!

19. FEED YOUR MIND
A computer is only as good as the data you program into it. Update your knowledge. Delete bad past programming. Read, research and learn. Perform mental gymnastics. The most brilliant crown you can wear is an intelligent mind!

20. BELIEVE IN MAGIC
For anything to happen, you must believe that it will. A shadow of doubt is enough to prevent it from becoming true. You have to have faith in your heart and unwavering belief that God will provide what your heart desires. Believe in magic and with God’s blessings it will come true.

Thanks, Leah for reminding us these.