Playing Cards & Games

Whenever we started to run out of things to talk about after dinner (and perhaps a few of us had enjoyed a little snooze), we would clear all the tables and get down to the serious business of playing a card game called Euchre. We drew cards to determine partners, then assembled at various tables in groups of four. The head table would play until someone got to ten points. The winning team remained as partners at the head table, but the losers moved down to the lowest table and switched partners with the losers there.

The marvelous thing about this process was that everyone participated and had a great time, from about age ten up to the grandparents. By switching partners, we all had a delightful chance to visit with each other and enjoy the intimate camaraderie of family and friends. As always at the end of a wonderful evening, we would have one more opportunity to share another piece of Mom’s fabulous pie, a little coffee and a whole lot of love.

We often played a variety of board games as well with friends and family, such as the old standbys: Monopoly, Clue, Parcheesi, Scrabble, Sorry, Cribbage and Chess. One Christmas I received a Chess set and considered myself to be quite a competent player. However, that complacency was shattered one evening when elderly friends came by. Once I taught “Uncle Marce” the basic rules, we started a game. Within a matter of minutes, he had me in checkmate, so I humbly learned a very important lesson: You can in fact teach an “old dog” a new trick.