the rose
12:18 AM | 10-20-04
NOTE: Grab some tea or coffee for this one....this is gonna be a LONG entry! BUT...I know you*ll enjoy it! love, Am-
As I was driving to Erika*s to have one of our many,many gab fests about life....which usually turns into bitch fest about he many frusterating things in our lives...a song was playing on the radio. "The Rose" By: Bette Midler. I remember this song from when i was in Elementary school and always classified it as a cheesy song...For some reason I left it on....and for the first time...listened to the words. This may have a "cheesy" melody...but it*s lyrics are in no way "cheesy" they are comming from someones heart...and someones "rough patch" in their lives. For the first time i actually appreciated the song. Some days I have alot of "rough patches" each time...i have to wonder if I*ll ever be able to get over them. I wonder about school, my family, my friends, love, and the future. I don*t know how any of these things are going to turn out. It troubles me. For instance....my rough patch...my birthday. Now known as "The Blackout in Marquette" No heat, traffic lights, electricity, in the entire city for 9 hours. All...on my birthday. It was rough...but after it was all over it was indeed memorable. So I*m 22....big deal. It happens...and soon..you will be 22 too.
What else? I*m thinking about love alot. I have alot of doubt...drifting in and out. The rough patches come and go...i heal...and wound. I wonder...if you are in a realtionship...long term or not. When or why do you let go of love? When do people decide for themseves when they are ready emotionally, psysically, ready to move on. In my personal opinion....it has a great deal to do with courage. Courage to take the beating...cry the many tears, to be alone, to let go, and the realistic truth that you may be facing that your love may not actually work out. You have to have the courage to move on and face what else may be in store for you. For better or for worse. It*s hard....and for anyone who has been in love...knows exactly what i am talking about. People stay in realtionships not because they are stupid...stupid not to see what everyone else may see is not working...they are afraid. They afraid to see the truth and actually retaliate. Move away from the situation...lets face it, break ups are one of, if not the hardest thing to overcome...and to create. It*s harder than losing a job, losing a friend, failing a class, and even death. This is my opinion...so bare with me. We are all afraid...I know this because I have seen and been in alot of relationships that have been healthy and not healthy at one point or another. The "rough patches" in our lives are scattered...and we come upon them on any given tuesday...or any day for that matter...and if we can have the courage to face them and overcome them..then THAT is what i think is the biggest achievement of all. I found the lyrics to "The Rose" and another great story....I cried...and enjoyed these ALOT....so i urge to whomeever is reading this long entry to TRY your hardest to read further....thanx!!
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 am 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 met a rich husband, get married, have a couple of children and then retire and travel."
"No seriously," I asked. I was curious to see what 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 days we would leave class together and talk non-stop. I was always mesmerised 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 easily made friends wherever she went. She loved to dress up and she reveled in the attention bestowed on her from the other students. She was living it up.
At the end of the year, 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 little embarrassed, she leaned in to the microphone and simply said...
"I'm so sorry. I'm a little 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 cheered 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 humour every day. You've got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams you die. We have so many people who are walking around dead and they 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 protective 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 years 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 the funeral in tribute to the wonderful woman who taought by example that its never too late to be all you can possibly be.
So if you are having a "bad patch" in your life...go to the record store... buy "The Rose", listen to the lyrics and "begin all over again".
~Author Unknown~
LYRICS!!!!!!!!!! **THE ROSE**
Some say love it is a river
That drowns the tender reed.
Some say love it is a razor
That leaves your soul to bleed.
Some say love it is a hunger
An endless, aching need
I say love it is a flower
And you its only seed.
It's the heart afraid of breaking
That never learns to dance
It's the dream afraid of waking
That never takes the chance.
Its the one who won't be taken
Who cannot seem to give
And the soul afraid of dying
That never learns to live.
And the night has been too lonely
And the road has been too long.
And you think that love is only
For the lucky and the strong.
Just remember in the winter
Far beneath the bitter snow
Lies the seed that with the sun's love,
In the spring,
becomes
a ROSE.