GAMES AND PUZZLES

As I’ve mentioned before, I have enjoyed puzzles and games ever since I was a small girl. Someone made a picture of me working a puzzle and according to the date on the back, I was three years old at the time. So I have enjoyed this activity for some time (no wise cracks, please).

This love of games continued on into my teenaged years and I especially remember playing Rook with BJ and my father often. We were all three very competitive, but Daddy could be reckless at times. We used to have an end table in the living room that had a drawer full of photographs the backs of which we kept score on and recently I discovered some of these in my own picture collection. I laughed when I saw that many times Daddy had the lowest score because he would over bid his hand.

We played all kinds of card games; Rook was just one of them. I remember crazy eights, casino, rummy, war, slap-jack, I doubt it, and the old favorite, go fish. We had a game called authors that was like go fish, I think, except that it had pictures of famous classical authors. It was a great way to become familiar with some grand old names.

When I was a sophomore in high school, MA got married. Before her wedding, someone gave a bridge party for her, and of course, BJ and I were invited. We had a crash course in the game before the party, but it didn’t help us much. She and I finished dead last, and I know some of the partners we had would like to have thrown the cards at us. I liked the game, though, and continued to hone my skills with some other friends throughout high school.

Then, as I’ve said before, I played a lot of bridge when I went off to college, many times at the expense of going to classes.

When I met the genius, I learned that he also was a card player. His specialty was really poker, but he liked bridge and played it often at his fraternity house. After we married, we continued to play.

When he was in the Army, we began playing duplicate bridge, which is a little more competitive than contract bridge, which the majority of people play. Duplicate is not dependent on what kind of cards a person is dealt since everyone plays the same hands and competes with other players that way. Later, after we moved back to Nashville, we were in a duplicate bridge club and enjoyed it thoroughly.

And then we stopped playing. Every so often I would join in a game, but it has only been since I retired that I have picked it back up again. And there are new rules!! Many people now bid entirely differently than what I was taught, so I have had to struggle in the clubs I have subbed in.

And then it came last week --- an invitation to join a duplicate bridge club!! I was surprised because I don’t bid like everyone else and they have looked at me a little askance occasionally. But, I have fared well in scoring and I already knew some of the women, so I guess that’s why they asked me. I told one of them that I feel like I did when I was asked to join a sorority.

So I hope I don’t embarrass myself, and I do look forward to being a part of this group.