A THOUSAND MARBLES

The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings. Perhaps it'sthe quiet solitude that comes with being the first to rise, or maybeit'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 shackwith a steaming cup of coffee in one hand and the morningpaper in the other. What began as a typical Saturday morning,turned into one of those lessons that life seems to hand youfrom time to time.

Let me tell you about it.

I turned the dial up into the phone portion of the band on myham radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning swap net.Along the way, I came across an older sounding chap, with atremendous signal and a golden voice. You know the kind,he sounded like he should be in the broadcasting business.He was telling whoever 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'msure they pay you well but it's a shame you have to be awayfrom home and your family so much. Hard to believe a youngfellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week tomake ends meet. Too bad you missed your daughter's dancerecital."

He continued, "Let me tell you something Tom, something thathas helped me keep a good perspective on my own priorities."And that's when he began to explain his theory of a "thousandmarbles."

You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. Theaverage person lives about seventy-five years. I know, somelive more and some live less, but on average, folks live aboutseventy-five years."

"Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3900which is the number of Saturdays that the average person hasin their entire lifetime. Now stick with me Tom, I'm getting tothe important part."

"It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all thisin any detail," he went on, "and by that time I had lived throughover twenty-eight hundred Saturdays. I got to thinking that if Ilived to be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of themleft to enjoy."

"So I went to a toy store and bought every single marble theyhad. I ended up having to visit three toy stores to roundup1000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside of a large,clear plastic container right here in the shack next to my gear.Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out andthrown it away."

"I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused moreon the really important things in life. There is nothing likewatching your time here on this earth run out to help get yourpriorities straight."

"Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign-off with youand take my lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I tookthe very last marble out of the container. I figure if I make it untilnext Saturday then I have been given a little extra time. And theone thing we can all use is a little more time."

"It was nice to meet you Tom, I hope you spend more time withyour family, and I hope to meet you again here on the band. 75year Old Man, this is K9NZQ, clear and going QRT, goodmorning!"

You could have heard a pin drop on the band when this fellowsigned off. I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I hadplanned to work on the antenna that morning, and then I wasgoing to meet up with a few hams to work on the next clubnewsletter.

Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss. "C'monhoney, I'm taking you and the kids to breakfast."

"What brought this on?" she asked with a smile. "Oh, nothingspecial, it's just been a long time since we spent a Saturdaytogether with the kids. Hey, can we stop at a toy store while we'reout? I need to buy some marbles."