danmcq Posted June 19, 2008 Share Posted June 19, 2008 From an unknown source, but very true... ----------------------------------------------------- The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings. Perhaps it's the quiet solitude 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 garage 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. It's too bad you missed your daughter' s "dance recital" he continued. "Let me tell you something that has helped me keep 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 a large, clear plastic container right here in the shack 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 focused 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. This is a 75 Year old Man, 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. And hey, can we stop at a toy store while we're out? I need to buy some marbles. ... as one smart bear once said..."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.<br><br>Post edited by: danmcq, at: 2008/06/19 20:25 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted June 19, 2008 Share Posted June 19, 2008 That is a wonderful story Dan and so true, the older we get the more we realize how much time we may have left, thanks for sharing that with us;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laurie Posted June 22, 2008 Share Posted June 22, 2008 Really good story! Thank you... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danmcq Posted June 22, 2008 Author Share Posted June 22, 2008 Glad you liked it. Have you seen the "Bucket List" with Morgan Freeman and Jack Nicholson yet? It is a great movie. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siobha9 Posted June 22, 2008 Share Posted June 22, 2008 Its a brilliant movie, and its so true. So many things are put on the long finger while we do more important things like ironing and tidying the garden. I think that really we should spend our time enjoying ourselves, so I have decided from now on...... NO MORE IRONING:laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted June 22, 2008 Share Posted June 22, 2008 I decided that a long, long, long time ago, in fact my ironing board probably has spider webs on it by now from non use, time is short and getting shorter by the minute, I aim to enjoy myself even if no one else does. {Feel-good-0002006E} Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danmcq Posted June 22, 2008 Author Share Posted June 22, 2008 LOL You two!!! YOu did not get the true meaning of the movie!! Again I say, your both whacked. PS: Don't forget the two questions you must answer before entering into your place of eternity.... The answers are of crisitcal importance, as to where your etxernal home will be.... B) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted June 22, 2008 Share Posted June 22, 2008 I never have seen the movie but I want to, I hear it is a good one, guess I will have to rent it and watch so I will know what the heck Dan is talking about:huh: :huh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
danmcq Posted June 23, 2008 Author Share Posted June 23, 2008 Yes, you should definitely watch Judy, i is very good and some good laughs at times too. :-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 Well thanks for the high recommendation and I will rent it soon, I don't get to the movies very often, even though I just went to one last Friday but that was just to take my granddaughter and was her choice of movie, I usually wait until it comes out on dvd or when it comes to the satellite movie channels. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
siobha9 Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 I just want to bring this back to the most important part of this thread... womens distaste for ironing. Here is where it all began :unsure: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
judygram Posted June 23, 2008 Share Posted June 23, 2008 Yep, thats where it all began with the barking of the orders, thanks for the laugh, so needed by me. {Feel-good-0002006E} Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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