[CS-FSLUG] The older I get, the more I enjoy Saturday mornings.

[Fred Miller]

      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.

      May God bless you in all you do 

-- 
"Running Windows on a Pentium is like getting a Porsche but only being
able to drive it in reverse with the handbrake on."