Diversifying Ruined

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 3,900 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 round up 1000 marbles. I took them home and put them inside 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 have 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."

HAHAHA FYI the opponent is Bella.

LONDON - BRITISH conductor Edward Downes and his wife have died at an assisted suicide clinic in Switzerland, their family said on Tuesday.

The family said Downes, 85, and his 74-year-old wife Joan died on Friday 'peacefully and under circumstances of their own choosing' at a Zurich clinic run by the group Dignitas.

The family statement said Downes had become almost blind and increasingly deaf. His wife, a former dancer, choreographer and television producer, had devoted years to working as his assistant.

'After 54 happy years together, they decided to end their own lives rather than continue to struggle with serious health problems,' the statement said.

Dignitas refused to comment from its office near Zurich.

Assisted suicide and euthanasia are banned in Britain, but British courts have been reluctant to convict people who help loved ones travel to clinics abroad to end their lives.

Born in Birmingham, central England, in 1924, Edward Downes had long associations with the Royal Opera House - where he conducted every season for more than 50 years - and the BBC Philharmonic Orchestra, where he became principal conductor and later conductor emeritus.

As music director of the Australian Opera, he conducted the first performance at the Sydney Opera House in 1973, and he also worked with the Netherlands Radio Orchestra and ensembles around the world.

He was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1991, becoming Sir Edward Downes.

The couple is survived by a son and daughter, Caractacus and Boudicca. The family said there would be no funeral. -- AP

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