The following was sent to me recently.  Thought I would share it with
everyone.  It speaks volumes.
Tim



A Thousand Marbles
Author Unknown

The older I get, the more I enjoy the Saturday mornings when I don't have
to work.  Perhaps it's the quiet solitude that comes along with being the
first to rise, or maybe it's the unbounded joy of not having to be a work.
Either way, the first few hours of a Saturday morning are the most enjoyable.

A few weeks ago I was shuffling toward the basement 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 temendous 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."

"Let me tell you something, Tom," he continued, "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 75 years.  I know, some live more and some less, but on
average, folks live about 75 years.  Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and
I came up with 3900, which is the number of Saturdays that the average
persons has in their entire lifetime.  Now stick with me, Tom.  I'm getting
to the important part."

"Tom, it took me until I was 55 years old to think about all of this in any
detail," he went on, "and by that time I had lived through over 2800
Saturdays.  I got to thinking that if I lived to be 75 I had only 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.  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 before your very eyes 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 if I make it until next Saturday then I
have been given the gift of 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 less time at work and more
time with your family.  I hope to meet you again here on the band.  Seventy
five 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 alot to think about.  I had planned to work on my
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 up my
wife 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."

MAKE ALL YOUR SATURDAYS SPECIAL.