http://www.potw.org/archive/potw232.html
Henry Wadsworth Longfellow (1807-1882)
A PSALM OF LIFE
WHAT THE HEART OF THE YOUNG MAN
SAID TO THE PSALMIST
TELL me not, in mournful numbers,
Life is but an empty dream ! —
For the soul is dead that slumbers,
And things are not what they seem.
Life is real ! Life is earnest!
And the grave is not its goal ;
Dust thou art, to dust returnest,
Was not spoken of the soul.
Not enjoyment, and not sorrow,
Is our destined end or way ;
But to act, that each to-morrow
Find us farther than to-day.
Art is long, and Time is fleeting,
And our hearts, though stout and brave,
Still, like muffled drums, are beating
Funeral marches to the grave.
In the world’s broad field of battle,
In the bivouac of Life,
Be not like dumb, driven cattle !
Be a hero in the strife !
Trust no Future, howe’er pleasant !
Let the dead Past bury its dead !
Act,— act in the living Present !
Heart within, and God o’erhead !
Lives of great men all remind us
We can make our lives sublime,
And, departing, leave behind us
Footprints on the sands of time ;
Footprints, that perhaps another,
Sailing o’er life’s solemn main,
A forlorn and shipwrecked brother,
Seeing, shall take heart again.
Let us, then, be up and doing,
With a heart for any fate ;
Still achieving, still pursuing,
Learn to labor and to wait.

No, these aren’t the words of the roommates but they are worth contemplating… “things are not what they seem.” My 11th grade English teacher pointed that out.
April

Now these are the thoughts of roommate number 2, the one not sitting sleepily on the bed, watching me type her reflections… these are my thoughts:
I looked up Ronnica’s name. I really like to see what people’s names mean! Ronnica’s name is no different. It means “Victory bringer” and her middle name has the connotation of “life.” I like that! May we all seek to know for ourselves and to lead others to the victory and life found in Yeshua (Jesus) our Lord.
Dori