Sorry it took me so long to respond. Actually Hiram did send me that story too! After some research, I have discovered there are a number of versions but they all are telling us the same thing - take time for family, life and to enjoy.....

Our Pastor used that story with a Bible story to emphasize time for family (both ours and our church family). When he did it lead me to realize my part time job was taking me away from family and my husband (who is older than I and has been retired for a long time). So, I resigned my job with a notice (2 1/2 months) the next Monday - and guess where I worked.......the church! It was the weekend before my last week that my husband was rushed to the emergency room, had emergency surgery and diagnosed with cancer. So you see - there is a higher power!

Here is one version -
The Story:
A man was thinking about his life... He heard that an average human lifespan is about 70 years. He calculated how many years he had left until his 70th birthday. Then he multiplied that number by 52 to see how many weeks he had to live.
He took a bowl and put as many marbles in it as the number of the weeks he had. After that at the end of every week, he threw one marble out of the ball. As time went by, he was watching how the marbles in the bowl got lesser. The lesser the marbles got, the more he appreciated life and enjoyed it fuller and fuller.
On his 70th birthday, the man threw away the last marble from the bowl. Every day after that he valued and treasured as a very special gift he was given.

Another is slightly different and available at this link: http://www.llerrah.com/thousandmarbles.htm

Hope you and others on our website enjoy.