I'll be on vacation next week, which means I won't be able to sign-on unless I can get to someone else's computer.
Hope everyone stays sane and their pain stays bearable!
Pain-free hugs and love to all.
1000 Marbles
>>>>
The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings. Perhaps it's
the quietsolitude that comes with being the first to rise, or maybe it's
the unbounded joy of not having to be at work. Either way, the first
few hours
of a Saturday morning are most enjoyable.
>>>>
A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the basement shack with a
steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the morning paper in the other.
What began as a typical Saturday morning, turned into one of
those lessons that life seems to hand you from time to time. Let me
tell you
about it.
>>>>
I turned the dial up into the phone portion of the band on my ham
radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning swap net. Along the way,
I
came across an older sounding chap, with a tremendous signal and a
golden voice. You know the kind; he sounded like he should be in the
broadcasting business. He was telling whomever he was talking with
something
about "a thousand marbles." I was intrigued and stopped to listen to
what
he had to say.
>>>>
"Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your job. I'm
sure they pay you well but it's a shame you have to be away from home
and
your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work
sixty
or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. Too bad you missed your
daughter's dance recital." He continued, "Let me tell you something Tom,
something that has helped me keep a good perspective on my own
priorities."
>>>>
And that's when he began to explain his theory of a "thousand
marbles."
>>>>
"You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The
average person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more
and
some live less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years.
>>>>
Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3900, which
is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire
lifetime.
>>>>
Now, stick with me, Tom, I'm getting to the important part. It
took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this in any
detail"; he went on, "and by that time I had lived through over
twenty-eight
hundred Saturdays. I got to thinking that if I lived to be seventy-five,
I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy.
>>>>
"So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble they
had. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to round up 1000
marbles. I
took them home and put them inside of a large, clear plastic container
right here in the sack next to my gear.
>>>>
Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown it
away."
"I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focus more on
the really important things in life.
>>>>
There is nothing like watching your time here on this earth run
out to help get your priorities straight."
>>>>
"Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign-off with you
and take my lovely wife out for breakfast.
>>>>
This morning, I took the very last marble out of the container. I
figure that if I make it until next Saturday then I have been given a
little extra time. And the one thing we can all use is a little more
time."
>>>>
It was nice to meet you Tom, I hope you spend more time with your
family, and I hope to meet you again here on the band. 75 year Old Man,
this is K9NZQ, clear and going QRT, good morning!"
>>>>
You could have heard a pin drop on the band when this fellow
signed off.
>>>>
I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I had planned to
work on the antenna that morning, and then I was going to meet up with a
few
hams to work on the next club newsletter.
>>>>
Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss. "C'mon
honey, I'm taking you and the kids to breakfast." "What brought this
on?" she asked with a smile.
>>>>
"Oh, nothing special, it's just been a long time since we spent a
Saturday together with the kids. Hey, can we stop at a toy store while
we're out? I need to buy some marbles...
>>>>
A friend sent this to me, so I to you, my friend.
>>>>
"If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one
day,
so I never have to live without you." -Winnie the Pooh
kcmo rose