REAL PEOPLE
ROSE
The first day of school our professor introduced himself
He 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 87years old
Can I give you a hug?"
I laughed and enthusiastically responded, "Of course, you may!"
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
I want to 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
Now I'm getting one!" she told me
After class we walked to the student union building
We 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"
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
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 will never forget what she taught us
She was introduced and stepped up to the podium
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 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
Only 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 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"
So live life well so you won't need to face regrets for what you did not do!
As 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 her funeral
They all paid tribute to the wonderful woman who taught by example
That it's never too late to be all you can possibly be
Author Unknown
MR. PRESIDENT
I recently saw a bumper sticker that said
"Thank me, I voted for Clinton-Gore"
So, I sat down and reflected on that
I am sending my "Thank you" for what you have did to this country
Specifically
1. Thank you for introducing us to Jennifer Flowers
Paula Jones
Monica Lewinsky
Dolly Kyle Browning
Kathleen Willey and Juanita Broaddrick
Are there any others that we should know about?
2. Thank you for teaching my 8 year old about oral sex
I had really planned to wait until he was about 10 or so to discuss it with him
Now he knows more about it than I did as a senior in college
3. Thank you for showing us that sexual harassment in the work place
Especially the White House, is OK
All you have to know is what the meaning of "IS" is
It really is great to know that certain sexual acts are not sex
And one person may have sex while the other one involved does NOT have sex
4. Thank you for reintroducing the concept of impeachment to a new generation
Thank you for demonstrating that the ridiculous plot of the movie
"Wag The Dog", could be plausible after all
5. Thanks for making Jimmy Carter look competent
Gerald Ford look graceful
Richard Nixon look honest
Lyndon Johnson look truthful
And John Kennedy look moral
6. Thank you for the 72 House and Senate witnesses
Who have plead the 5th Amendment
Thank you for 17 witnesses who have fled the country to avoid testifying about Democrat campaign fund raising
7. Thank you for the 19 charges
8 convictions, and 4 imprisonments from the Whitewater "mess"
Thank you for the 55 criminal charges and 32 criminal convictions (so far) in the other "Clinton" scandals
8. Thanks also for reducing our military by half, "gutting" much of our foreign policy
And flying all over the world on "vacations" carefully disguised as necessary trips
Please Give My Regards To Hillary
Please Tell The "Ex First Lady"
That I Am Working On Her Own "Thank You" Letter
Author Unknown
OLD MAN
We were the only family with children in the restaurant
I sat Erik in a high chair and noticed everyone was quietly eating and talking
Suddenly, Erik squealed with glee and said, "Hi there"
He pounded his fat baby hands on the highchair tray
His eyes were wide with excitement and his mouth was bared in a toothless grin
He wriggled and giggled with merriment
I looked around and saw the source of his merriment
It was a man with a tattered rag of a coat; dirty, greasy and worn
His pants were baggy with a zipper at half-mast
And his toes poked out of would-be shoes
His shirt was dirty and his hair was uncombed and unwashed
His whiskers were too short to be called a beard
And his nose was so varicose it looked like a road map
We were too far from him to smell, but I was sure he smelled
His hands waved and flapped on loose wrists
"Hi there, baby; hi there, big boy. I see ya, buster," the man said to Erik
My husband and I exchanged looks, "What do we do?"
Erik continued to laugh and answer, "Hi, hi there"
Everyone in the restaurant noticed and looked at us and then at the man
The old geezer was creating a nuisance with my beautiful baby
Our meal came and the man began shouting from across the room
"Do ya know patty cake?
Do you know peek-a-boo?
Hey, look, he knows peek-a-boo"
Nobody thought the old man was cute
He was obviously drunk
My husband and I were embarrassed
We ate in silence
All except for Erik
Who was running through his repertoire for the admiring skid-row bum
Who in turn, reciprocated with his cute comments
We finally got through the meal and headed for the door
My husband went to pay the check
And told me to meet him in the parking lot
The old man sat poised between me and the door
"Lord, just let me out of here before he speaks to me or Erik," I prayed
As I drew closer to the man
I turned my back trying to sidestep him
And avoid any air he might be breathing
As I did,
Erik leaned over my arm, reaching with both arms in a baby's "pick-me-up" position
Before I could stop him, Erik had propelled himself from my arms to the man's
Suddenly a very old smelly man
And a very young baby consummated their love relationship
Erik in an act of total trust and love
And submission laid his tiny head upon the man's ragged shoulder
The man's eyes closed, and I saw tears hover beneath his lashes
His aged hands full of grime, pain
And hard labor-gently, so gently, cradled my baby's bottom and stroked his back
No two beings have ever loved so deeply for so short a time
I Stood Awestruck
The old man rocked and cradled Erik in his arms for a moment
And then his eyes opened and set squarely on mine
He said in a firm commanding voice, "You take care of this baby"
Somehow I managed, "I will," from a throat that contained a stone
He pried Erik from his chest-unwillingly, longingly, as though he were in pain
I received my baby and the man said
"God bless you, ma'am, you've given me my Christmas gift"
I said nothing more than a muttered thanks
With Erik in my arms, I ran for the car
My husband was wondering why I was crying
And holding Erik so tightly
And why I was saying,"My God, my God, forgive me"
I had just witnessed Christ's love shown through the innocence of a tiny child
He saw no sin, who made no judgment
A child who saw a soul, and a mother who saw a suit of clothes
I was a Christian who was blind, holding a child who was not
I felt it was God asking
"Are you willing to share your son for a moment?"
When He shared His for all eternity
The Ragged Old Man, Unwittingly, Had Reminded Me,
"To Enter The Kingdom Of God
We Must Become As Little Children"
Author Unknown
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