Carol's Marbles: August 2014

1000 Marbles

Carol turned 60 in January, and was given 1000 marbles by her friend Suzanne, with a sheet of paper referring to the "Story of the 1000 marbles". (See here for complete story.)

The premise is that by 60 years old you should know what makes you happy. And you should make sure you spend your time doing that. The 1000 marbles refers to the 1000 Saturday mornings between 60 years old and 80 years old, and of a man who kept a 1000 marbles in a jar, and took one out every Saturday morning, which was his favorite time of the week. As the numbers of marbles dwindled, it was a constant reminder to him of what is important and that time is fleeting.

In any case, Carol died suddenly in May, after giving her friend those same 1000 marbles for her 60th birthday. While the sentiment is lovely, those marbles came to represent all those Saturday mornings that Carol didn't get to experience, with her family or her friends. We didn't want to keep the marbles around as a reminder of those missed experiences.

But what does one do with a 1000 marbles? It didn't seem right to just throw them away. Then we had an idea.

We've been placing marbles in places where Carol might have wanted to visit, places Carol loved or visited, or anyplace that strikes our fancy, for any reason: Carol would think it was funny, this place is meaningful to us, this place feels like it needs a marble, and so on and so forth. Very quickly, a few marbles were given to anybody who was willing to take them somewhere.

We are chronicling the adventures of those marbles here.

Monday, August 11, 2014

Akumal, Mexico - Joan Hastings

There are a couple of places where Carol herself tossed a marble in celebration of her good fortune. One is off this little boardwalk in Akumal, Mexico that leads to Yakul Lagoon. Lots of Carol's friends and their families have spent time with her there over the years. Akumal was one of her favorite spots - a place where she could slow down, breathe deep, and think (or not). This particular boardwalk leads from Casa Del Sol, a retreat that was once owned by the Grateful Dead - very fitting for a wannabe rocknroller. There is an iguana there named Jerry (Garcia), and Carol loved to feed him fresh mangoes. Carol was there in January, 2014 to celebrate her 60th with husband Michael, son Jamie, and Jamie's girlfriend, Kelsey. She was happy to drop a marble while snorkeling in Yakul - it matched her love for this place.