Subject: ENJOY
> 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 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 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'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 roundup 1000 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 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 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. 73 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,"
>>
>> GOD BLESS YOU & YOURS! MAY ALL SATURDAYS BE SPECIAL!
>
>Barbara
>
>
>
