The Red Marbles.

Post 595 ~ ~ ~ Monday, 4th May, 2009.

Hello Everyone ~~ I hope all is well with you all. I am OK in spite of having a fall inside
my home, I tripped on a little step going from the lounge to the kitchen. I was not hurt
from the fal l~~ But OH, it was so hard to get up. It took me about 10 minutes to get
back on my feet. A few extra aches and pains from the struggle to get up but all's well
that ends well. I trust you are all watching how you are walking.

Tomorrow is the birthday of my good friend June. so a very Happy Birthday June and
many more to come. I hope you have a wonderful day of celebration.




A pretty flower, I forget its name. It is like an Impations but its stem is more erect.


This one is a Tibouchina nowadays, but used to be called a Lasiandra.

I have posted this story before, but it was sent to me by my dear friend, Nancy. It is
called "The Red Marbles." Thank you Nancy, and I hope you enjoy it.

I was at the corner grocery store buying some early potatos. I noticed a small boy,
delicate of bone and feature, ragged but clean, hungrily apprizing a basket of freshly
picked green peas. I paid for my potatos, but was aso drawn to the fresh green peas.

I am a pushover for creamed peas and new potatos. Pondering the peas, I couldn't
help overhearing the conversation between Mr Miller (the store owner) and the ragged
boy next to me. "Hello, Barry, how are you today?"
"H'lo Mr. Miller. Fine, thank ya. Just admiring them peas. They sure look good."

"They are good, Barry. How's your Ma?"
"Fine. Gittin' stronger alla' time." "Good, anything I can help you with?"
"No sir, just admiring them peas." "Would you like to take some home?" asked Mr. Miller.
"No sir. Got nuthin' to pay for 'em with."
"Well what do you have to trade me for some of those peas?"
"All I got's my prize marble here."
"Is that right? Let me see it." said Mr Miller. "Here it is. She's a dandy."

"I can see that. Hmmmmm, only thing is this one is blue and I sort of go for red. Do you
have a red one like this at home?" the store owner asked.
"Not zackley, but almost." "Tell you what. Take this sack of peas home with you and next trip this way let me look at that red marble," Mr. Miller told the boy.
"Sure will, Thanks Mr. Miller.

Mrs. Miller, who had been standing nearby, came over to help me. With a smile she said,
"There are two other boys like him in our community, all three in very poor circumstances. Jim just loves to bargain with them for peas, apples, tomatos or whatever.
When they come back with their red marbles, and they always do, he decides he doesn't
like red after all and he sends them home with a bag of produce for a green marble, or an orange one, when they come on their next trip to the store."

I left the store smiling to myself, impressed with this man.
A short time later I moved to Colorado, but I never forgot the story of this man, the boys
and their bartering for marbles.
Several years went by, each more rapid than the previous one.

Just recently I had occasion to visit some old friends in that Idaho community and while I was there learned that Mr. Miller had died. They were having his visitation that evening and knowing my friends wanted to go, I agreed to accompany them.

Upon arrival at the mortuary we fell into line to meet the relatives of the deceased
and to offer whatever words of comfort we could.

Ahead of us in line were three young men,

One was in Army uniform, and the other two wore nice haircuts, dark suits and white shirts. . . all very professional looking.
They approached Mrs. Miller, standing composed and smiling by her husband's casket.
Each of the young men hugged her, kissed her on the cheek, spoke briefly with her and
moved on to the casket.

Her misty light blue eyes followed them as, one by one, each young man stopped and
briefly placed his own warm hand over the cold pale hand in the casket.
Each left the mortuary awkwardly, wiping his eyes.

Our turn came to meet Mrs. Miller. I told her who I was and reminded her of the story
from those many years ago and what she had told me about her husband bartering for marbles.

With her eyes glistening she took my hand and led me to the casket. "Those three
young men who just left were the boys I told you about. They just told me how they
appreciated the things Jim 'traded' them.

Now, at last when Jim could not change his mind about color and size ... they came to
pay their debt."
"We've never had a great deal of wealth of this world." she confided, "But right now,
Jim would consider himself the richest man in Idoaho."

With loving gentleness, she lifted the lifeless fingers of her deceased husband. Resting underneath were three exquisitely shined Red Marbles.

The Moral : We will not be remembered by our words, but by our kind deeds.
Life is not measured by the breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath.
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Joe wanted to buy a motorcycle. He doesn't have much luck until one day, he comes
across a Harley with a "For Sale" sign on it. The bike seems even better than a new
one, although it is 10 years old. It is shiny and in absolute mint condition.

He immediately buys it, and asks the seller how he kept it in such great condition for
10 years. "Well, it's quite simple really"say the seller, whenever the bike is outside
and it's going to rain, rub Vaseline on the chrome. It protects it from the rain.
And he hands Joe a jar of Vaseline.

That night, his girlfriend Sandra invites him over to meet her parents. Naturally, they
take the bike there. But just before they enter the house, Sandra stops him and says,
"I have to tell you something about my family, before we go in. When we eat dinner,
we don't talk. In fact the first person who says anything, during dinner, has to do
the dishes."

"No problem, " says Joe, and in they go. Joe is shocked. Right smack in the middle
of the living room is a huge stack of dishes. In the kitchen is another stack of dishes.
Piled up on the stairs, in the corridor, everywhere he looks -- dirty dishes.

They sit down for dinner and sure enough , no one says a word. As dinner progresses
Joe decides to take advantage of the situation. So he leans over and kisses Sandra.

No one says a word so he leans over and fondles her breasts. Still, nobody says a
word, so he stands up rips off her clothes, throws her on the table and has his way
with her, right there in front of her parents. His girlfriend is a little flustered, her Dad obviously livid, and her Mom horrified, when he sits back down, but no one says a word.

He looks at her Mom, "She's got a great body," he thinks. So he grabs the mom and has his way with her right on the dinner table. Now his girlfriend is furious and her Dad boiling
but still total silence.

All of a sudden, there is a loud clap of thunder, and it starts to rain. Joe remembers his bike, so he pulls out his jar of Vaseline from his pocket.
Suddenly the father backs away from the table and shouts.
"All right, that's enough. I'll do the damn dishes."
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An old man, a boy and a donkey were going to town. The boy rode on the donkey
and the old man walked. As they went along, they passed some people who remarked,
it was a shame the boy rode and the old man walked. The man and boy thought they may be right, so they changed places.

Then a little later they passed some people who remarked, "What a shame he makes the little boy walk." So then they decided they both would walk.

Soon they passed more people who thought they were stupid to walk when they had
a decent donkey to ride. So they both rode the donkey.

Now they passed some people who shamed them by saying how awful to put such a
load on the poor donkey.

The man and boy figured they were probably right, so they decided to carry the donkey.
As they crossed the bridge, they lost their grip on the donkey and he fell in the river
and drowned.

The Moral of this story? If you try to please everyone, you might as well
Kiss your ass goodbye.
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A man and his dog walk into a bar. The owner asks if he can get a free beer if he can get his dog to talk.The barman says OK The owner asks the dog what sandpaper feels like,
and the dog says in a dog voice "ROUGH, ROUGH"
"The barman says "That's ridiculous, let me ask a question. The owner agreed.

"Who do you think is the greatest baseball player ever, Ruth or DiMaggio?"
"RUTH RUTH (dog voice) The barman kicks them out. The dog and his owner were
walking back down the street and the dog turns to him and says, 'Do you think
it might have been DiMaggio?"
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The old priest lay dying in the hospital. For years he had faithfully served the people of
the nation's capital. He motioned for his nurse to come closer.
"Yes, Father?" said the nurse.
"I would really like to see John Howard and Peter Costello before I die. whispered
the priest. "I'll see what I can do Father," said the nurse.

The nurse sent the request to Parliament House and waited for a responce. Soon after
the word arrived. Howard and Costello would be delighted to visit the priest.
As they went to the hospital, Costello commented to Howard. "I don't know why the
old priest wants to see us, but it will certainly help our images. Howard agreed.

When they arrived at the priest's room, the priest took Howard's hand in his right hand
and Costello's hand in his left. There was silence and a look of serenity on the priest's
face.
Finally, Howard spoke, "Father,of all the people you could have chosen, why did you
choose us to be with you near the end?"

The old priest slowly replied, "I have always tried to pattern my life, after, Our Lord,
and Saviour Jesus Christ."
"Amen," says Howard. "Amen," says Costello.

The old priest continued.."He died between two lying thieves. I would like to do the same."
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I had laryngitis and finally went to the doctor. After the nuse called my name, she asked for my age. "Forty-nine " I whispered.

"Don't worry," she whispered back. "I won't tell anyone."
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Well it is time to say Goodnight for this post. I will be back in a few days. A cousin just
rang and 4 cousins are coming here on Thursday for tea. So I have to do some straightening up. Phyllis is bringing a meal for us all.

Take good care of yourselves and each other. My love and best wishes to you all.
I will get round to my replies soon.

Post 595 ~ ~ ~ Monday, 4th May, 2009.
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