Subject: Saturday Mornings
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 kitchen, 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 volume up on my radio in order to listen to a Saturday
morning talk show. I heard an older sounding chap with a golden
voice. You know the kind, he sounded like he should be in the
broadcasting business himself.
He was talking about "a thousand marbles"
to someone named "Tom".
I was intrigued and sat down 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 my workshop next
to the radio. 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 signoff 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 God has blessed me with a
little extra time to be with my loved ones...
"It was nice to talk to you Tom, I hope you spend more time
with your loved ones, and I hope to meet you again someday. Have
a good morning!"
You could have heard a pin drop when he
finished. Even the show's moderator didn't have anything to say
for a few moments. I guess he gave us all a lot to think about.
I had planned to do some work that morning, then go to the gym.
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," I said. " It has 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."
HAVE A GREAT WEEKEND AND MAY ALL SATURDAYS BE SPECIAL AND
MAY YOU HAVE MANY HAPPY YEARS... AFTER YOU LOSE ALL YOUR MARBLES.
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