Tuesday, March 3, 2020

Playing Games

Once upon a time, long, long ago, before television, before iPads and smartphones and the ilk, we played games for entertainment.  I grew up with Parcheesi, Monopoly, checkers and Chinese checkers, and card games.  Learning to count, I thought the numbers went ...nine, ten, jack, queen, king.  If we weren't clustered in front of the radio to listen to Inner Sanctum, Suspense, or The Lone Ranger, someone would bring out a board game to play.  I won't say my mother was competitive, but one time she and I started a game of tiddlywinks after dinner.  She wasn't winning and she wouldn't call it quits or let me go to bed until three a.m.  Playing games was an opportunity to talk to each other, to family members and friends.  My parents played poker twice monthly with two sets of friends, at their house or ours.  There was real conversation, unlike today when people's eyes are glued to little hand-held devices.

My Kids grew up with games   A photo that still makes me laugh is the one in which one of my sons (who shall remain nameless) is biting the hand of his sister, who was winning at Cootie.  I did mention that we are a competitive bunch.  We played games well into their adulthood, and there are multiple cupboards downstairs packed with games of all kinds.  We haven't even played poker in a long time now.

Don't get me wrong, I appreciate the technology and use my cellphone daily, more to play Sudoku than anything else, and it's my lifeline to the outside world if I were to have an accident.  I'd rather talk face to face, but that's just me.

Wanna play a game?

1 comment:

Kathryn Williams said...

One of my favorite things about playing a group card game is the camaraderie...the laughs...the teasing...the stories...and the food. I lived in Ohio for 7 1/2 years and just moved back to California 11 years ago, and cards are a way of life back there for the group that became my friends. It's a really nice and hospitable way to get to know the new kid on the block!! I'm grateful for those friendships!