1000 Marbles

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 roundup 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 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 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.