January 10, 2023
Subject: Marbles
When I was a kid in the 1970s, I was into collecting marbles for a little while. Not playing marble games with them, no... just collecting them, admiring them, and sorting them out, by style, shape, and color.
I had a neighbor friend, who was a few years younger, and she too had a marble collection going.
One day while playing at her house, we both had our marbles out, in separate piles.
She left the room for a moment, and I, being the sneaky and devious little weirdo that I was, helped myself to a few of her marbles, adding them to my own pile. She didn't notice my theft, and I thought I had gotten away with it, that is, until her mother called my mother that evening, telling her that "Amy needs to return her daughter's marbles". My mother questioned me about this, and I immediately denied the deed. The charges were not dropped against me - it was known exactly how many marbles were in my friend's collection, and in due process, it was discovered that there were that many extra in my collection. I was made to go to her house, and return her stolen marbles. I remember being indignant, embarrassed, and ashamed.
I'm thankful for her mom, who called me out, and for my own mom, who also made me own up to the crime.
If only more of my misdeeds throughout my youth were discovered, perhaps I would have developed a better moral character, alot earlier. Instead, it took me half a lifetime to straighten out.
Which makes me often wonder... am I still bad, and just don't know it? When I'm 80, will I regret my behavior and ways, currently?
*sigh*
Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.
