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MY
REMAINING LIFE IN A GLASS JAR!
A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the Florida Room
with a steaming cup of hot tea in one hand and a book 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 on the ham radio to find something to
listen to when, along the way, I came across an older
sounding chap with 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 loved ones so much.
Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty
or seventy hours a week to make ends meet." 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," he said, "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 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 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
running 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 loved ones, and I hope to meet you again here
on the band. 75 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 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 loved one with a kiss. "C'mon
, I'm taking you to breakfast" I said. "What brought
this on?" I was asked with a smile. "Oh, nothing
special, it's just been a long time since we spent a
Saturday enjoying life together. Oh yes," I said. "and
by the way, could we stop at a toy store while we're
out? I need to buy some marbles."
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