Chaos in Zimbabawe .... xenophobia in Gauteng, South Africa .... what will happen next?
"As we grow up, we learn that even the one person that wasn't supposed to ever let you down probably will. You will have your heart broken probably more than once and it's harder every time. You'll break hearts too, so remember how it felt when yours was broken. You'll fight with your best friend. You'll blame a new love for things an old one did. You'll cry because time is passing too fast, and you'll eventually lose someone you love. So take too many pictures, laugh too much, and love like you've never been hurt because every sixty seconds you spend upset is a minute of happiness you'll never get back.
Don't be afraid that your life will end,
be afraid that it will never begin."
A Thousand Marbles
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 the 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 e-band on my ham radio in order to listen to a Saturday morning swap net. Along the way, I came across an older sounding chap, with a tremendous signal and golden voice. You know the kind; he sounded like he should be in the broadcasting business. He was telling whomever he was talking with 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 family so much. Hard to believe a young fellow should have to work sixty or seventy hours a week to make ends meet. It’s too bad you missed your daughter’s “dance recital” he continued. “Let me tell you something that has helped me keep 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 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 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 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 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 to next Saturday then I will 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 family, and I hope to meet you again here on the band. This is a 75 year old man, 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 letter …
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, 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 …”
A friend sent this to me, so I to you my friend. And so, as one smart bear once said …”If you live to be a hundred, I want to live to be a hundred minus one day, so I never have to live without you.” Winnie the Pooh.
“Great things are not done by impulse, but by a series of small things brought together.”
Vincent van Gogh
I was recently introduced to “the other side of Cape Town.” I must admit that I was particularly ashamed at not knowing how some folk are forced to live in Cape Town. I live a mere 10 kilometres from this settlement and never knew of the conditions these folk are living in there. I am in the fortunate position of being able to help, and now take pride in actually “making a difference!” A friend of mine and I took 360 plates and bowls to the crèche, as there are 180 children accommodated there. The gratitude and appreciation that was displayed by the teachers (and children) of the crèche was a truly humbling experience. That was when I decided to do everything possible to make a real difference in these children’s lives.
As I previously mentioned, there are 180 children accommodated in this crèche. Each child’s parents are requested to pay R20 per child per week, this amounts to 1.42 pound. If the parents are unable to afford this, the child is not refused entry. The unemployment rate in the Vrygrond/Capricorn area is approximately 75%!
Included in the crèche is a pre-school for the children aged 6. Apparently some folk are unable to register their children into school thereafter due to poor social circumstances, hence the child’s education stops there, which is such a shame!
I recently raised funds via two fundraisers, which was relatively successful as Capetonians suffer a certain amount of apathy when it comes to such projects.
I wonder if there are any bloggers out there which may share ideas with me regarding fund raisers or funky/new ideas to make Capetonians more aware of these children’s plight.
I am considering an abseiling challenge with each participant needing to raise sponsorship for their abseil, but feel that something more innovative is needed.
Your ideas will be greatly appreciated.