<HTML><FONT FACE=arial,helvetica><FONT SIZE=2 PTSIZE=10>In a message dated 11/9/06 10:13:13 AM Central Standard Time, robertmique@msn.com writes:
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<BR><BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px"><B><I>Subject:</B></I>1000 marbles
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<BR>>>The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings. Perhaps it's
<BR>>>the
<BR>>>quiet solitude that comes with being the first to rise, or maybe
<BR>>>it's
<BR>>>the unbounded joy of not having to be at work. Either way, the
<BR>>>first few
<BR>>>hours of a Saturday morning are most enjoyable.
<BR>>>
<BR>>>A few weeks ago, I was shuffling toward the garage with a steaming
<BR>>>cup
<BR>>>of coffee in one hand and the morning paper in the other. What
<BR>>>began as
<BR>>>a typical Saturday morning turned into one of those lessons that
<BR>>>life
<BR>>>seems to hand you from time to time? Let me tell you about it:
<BR>>>
<BR>>>I turned the dial up into the phone portion of the band on my ham
<BR>>>radio
<BR>>>in order to listen to a Saturday morning swap net. Along the way,
<BR>>>I
<BR>>>came across an older sounding chap, with a tremendous signal and a
<BR>>>golden voice. You know the kind; he sounded like he should be in
<BR>>>the
<BR>>>broadcasting business. He was telling whom-ever he was talking
<BR>>>with
<BR>>>something about "a thousand marbles." I was intrigued and stopped
<BR>>>to
<BR>>>listen to what he had to say.
<BR>>>
<BR>>>"Well, Tom, it sure sounds like you're busy with your job. I'm sure
<BR>>>they
<BR>>>pay you well but it's a shame you have to be away from home and
<BR>>>your
<BR>>>family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work
<BR>>>sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. It's too bad you
<BR>>>missed
<BR>>>your daughter's "dance recital" he continued. "Let me tell you
<BR>>>something that has helped me keep my own priorities" And that's
<BR>>>when he
<BR>>>began to explain his theory of a "thousand marbles."
<BR>>>
<BR>>>"You see, I sat down one day and did a little arithmetic. The
<BR>>>average
<BR>>>person lives about seventy-five years. I know, some live more and
<BR>>>some
<BR>>>live less, but on average, folks live about seventy-five years.
<BR>>>
<BR>>>"Now then, I multiplied 75 times 52 and I came up with 3900, which
<BR>>>is
<BR>>>the number of Saturdays that the average person has in their entire
<BR>>>lifetime. Now, stick with me, Tom, I'm getting to the important
<BR>>>part.
<BR>>>
<BR>>>It took me until I was fifty-five years old to think about all this
<BR>>>in
<BR>>>any detail", he went on, "and by that time I had lived through over
<BR>>>twenty-eight hundred Saturdays." "I got to thinking that if I lived
<BR>>>to
<BR>>>be seventy-five, I only had about a thousand of them left to enjoy.
<BR>>>So I
<BR>>>went to a toy store and bought every single marble they had. I
<BR>>>ended up
<BR>>>having to visit three toy stores to round up 1000 marbles. I took
<BR>>>them
<BR>>>home and put them inside a large, clear plastic container right
<BR>>>here in
<BR>>>the shack next to my gear."
<BR>>>
<BR>>>"Every Saturday since then, I have taken one marble out and thrown
<BR>>>it
<BR>>>away. I found that by watching the marbles diminish, I focused more
<BR>>>on
<BR>>>the really important things in life. There is nothing like watching
<BR>>>your
<BR>>>time here on this earth run out to help get your priorities
<BR>>>straight."
<BR>>>
<BR>>>
<BR>>>"Now let me tell you one last thing before I sign-off with you and
<BR>>>take
<BR>>>my lovely wife out for breakfast. This morning, I took the very
<BR>>>last
<BR>>>marble out of the container. I figure that if I make it until next
<BR>>>Saturday then I have been given a little extra time. And the one
<BR>>>thing
<BR>>>we can all use is a little more time."
<BR>>>
<BR>>>"It was nice to meet you Tom, I hope you spend more time with your
<BR>>>family, and I hope to meet you again here on the band. This is a 75
<BR>>>Year
<BR>>>old Man, K9NZQ, clear and going QRT, good morning!"
<BR>>>You could have heard a pin drop on the band when this fellow
<BR>>>signed
<BR>>>off. I guess he gave us all a lot to think about. I had planned to
<BR>>>work
<BR>>>on the antenna that morning, and then I was going to meet up with a
<BR>>>few
<BR>>>hams to work on the next club newsletter.
<BR>>>
<BR>>>Instead, I went upstairs and woke my wife up with a kiss. "C'mon
<BR>>>honey.
<BR>>>I'm taking you and the kids to breakfast." "What brought this on?"
<BR>>>she
<BR>>>asked with a smile. "Oh, nothing special, it's just been a long
<BR>>>time
<BR>>>since we spent a Saturday together with the kids. And hey, can we
<BR>>>stop
<BR>>>at a toy store while we're out? I need to buy some marbles.
<BR>>>A friend sent this to me, so I to you, my friend.
<BR>>>
<BR>>>And so, as one smart bear once said..."If you live to be a
<BR>>>hundred, I
<BR>>>want to live to be a hundred minus one day, so I never have to
<BR>>>live
<BR>>>without you." - Winnie the Pooh.
<BR>>>
<BR>>>Pass this on to all of your FRIENDS, even if it means sending it to
<BR>>>the
<BR>>>person that sent it to you.
<BR>>>
<BR>>>And if you receive this e-mail many times from many different
<BR>>>people,
<BR>>>it only means that you have many FRIENDS.
<BR>>>
<BR>>>And if you get it but once, do not be discouraged for you will know
<BR>>>that
<BR>>>you have at least one good friend...
<BR>>>
<BR>>>And that would be ME
<BR>>>
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