A quarter.

To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all. 

-Oscar Wilde

It could buy almost anything: a book of stickers, a pack of gum, a bouncy ball, a temporary tattoo of a tiger; a rubber-band powered airplane, a sliding puzzle, a tiny marble maze. Having a quarter weighing down my pocket was a ticket to multiple avenues of happiness. Even if there wasn't a product that caught my eye, the funnel-shaped wishing wells that collect charitable donations made my quarter a show of physics as well as a feel-good drop in the bucket. Even as time passed and inflation on the dollar and my tastes occurred, the quarter was still worth its weight. Vending machines, restaurant tips, and the occasional gumball, of course – I haven't outgrown those. Best of all: laundry. Any college student knows there are never enough quarters, and would jump at the chance to trade three dimes for one quarter.



Though there are many things I spent my quarters on, I was (and am) a bit stingy when it came to spending money – a real penny pincher. A quarter spent was a quarter-with-three-backup-quarters earned. If I didn't have two quarters to rub together, the gumball purchase would be postponed to a day of greater need, even if today was plagued by halitosis and near-starvation, and the gumball machine was one with the cool spiral discharge chute. I took great care in saving and spending my money, making each cent count.

Today, I reach a quarter. 25 cents of a century. Have I been frivolous? Cautious? Have my investments in time, the commodity money cannot buy, been wise? Have I stood back, unengaged, afraid to spend my precious moments? Has my family received appropriate disbursement? School and studies? Have I let cents fall through cracks of unguarded, nonpurposeful time management? If I audited my time expenditures, would they meet expectations?

How have a spent my quarter? I'm having a hard time detailing it; perhaps senility creeps up early in my generation. But however I've spent it, the ROI is incredible; I'm extraordinarily wealthy and blessed. Today, I was woken by a phone call from a friend, instead of an alarm clock reminding me to head off to my exceptional clinical internship. I shared a smoothie with a sister and nephew. I ran outside without handicap, with four fully functioning extremities and sound mind (more or less :) ).

Yes, I am blessed. And I look forward to the next quarter. I'm working on a time budget that includes lots of indulgences like family, adventures, and friends. Abandoning frugality, spending prodigiously on the happiness of others. Yep, here's to the next quarter. The gumball's coming down the spiral chute.

To laugh often and much;

to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children;

to earn the appreciation of honest critics and to endure the betrayal of false friends.

To appreciate beauty;

to find the best in others; to leave the world a bit better whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition;

to know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. 

This is to have succeeded.

- Ralph Waldo Emerson