​Seniors Matter(s): Saturdays!

A great story, I picked up off the Internet - 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 garage 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 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 as if 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 must be away from home and your family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work 60 or 70 hours a week to make ends meet. It's too bad you missed your daughter's dance recital. Let me tell you something that has helped me keep my own priorities.”

And that's when he began to explain his theory of “1,000 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 live less, but on average, folks live about 75 years.

“Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3,900, which is the number of Saturdays that the average person has in his entire lifetime. Now, stick with me, Tom, I'm getting to the important part.

“It took me until I was 50 years old to think about all this in any detail, and by that time, I had lived through more than 2,600 Saturdays. I got to thinking that if I lived to be 75, I had only about 1,300 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 1,300 marbles. I took them home and put them inside 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 important things in life.

“There's 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 that 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.”

Instead of carrying on with my typical Saturday, 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. And hey, can we stop at a toy store while we're out? I need to buy some marbles.”

You only live once!

‘Till next time!