RED MARBLES...

RED  MARBLES...  I  was at the corner grocery store buying some early  potatoes.  I noticed a small boy, delicate of bone  and feature, ragged but clean, hungrily appraising a  basket of freshly picked green peas.  I  paid for my potatoes but was also drawn to the display  of fresh green peas. I am a pushover for creamed peas  and new potatoes.  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. Jus' admirin' 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. Jus' admirin' them peas.'  'Would  you like to take some home?' asked Mr. Miller.  'No,  Sir. Got nuthin' to pay for 'em with.'  'Well,  what have you to trade me for some of those peas?'  'All  I got's my prize marble here.'  'Is  that right? Let me see it' said Miller..  'Here  'tis. 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 are in very poor  circumstances. Jim just loves to bargain with them for  peas, apples, tomatoes, 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 an 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 briefly and 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's 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 or size.....they came to pay  their debt.'  'We've  never had a great deal of the wealth of this world,' she  confided, 'but right now, Jim would consider himself the  richest man in Idaho.'  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......  Today  I wish you a day of ordinary miracles ~ A fresh pot of  coffee you didn't make yourself...An unexpected phone  call from an old friend...Green stoplights on your way  to work....The fastest line at the grocery store...A  good sing-along song on the radio...Your keys found  right where you left them.  Send  this to the people you'll never forget.. I just  Did....  If  you don't send it to anyone, it means you are in way too  much of a hurry to even notice the ordinary miracles  when they occur..  IT'S NOT  WHAT YOU GATHER, BUT WHAT YOU SCATTER THAT TELLS WHAT  KIND OF LIFE YOU HAVE LIVED.