Slice of Life: Queen of the Games 21 of 31

For the month of March, I'll be writing with the Slice of Life community. Disclaimer: I'll be writing every day so the writing will be a bit unpolished most days. Thanks to Two Writing Teachers for bringing this community together and for inspiring me to try to find the stories that surround me each day.

Gathered around the table, Grandma starts to laugh.  She has one of those laughs that makes everyone start to chuckle even if they have no idea what's so funny.  It isn't long until her laugh turns to a snort as she finishes shuffling her cards around in her hand and reachers them toward my cousin.  My cousin looks quizically at the cards, trying to find the best one to choose.  She starts to reach toward one side and weighs my grandma's reaction, reaches toward the other side and weighs Grandma's reaction, and then chooses a card toward the middle.  Grandma rolls her eyes and continues to snicker.

This was Old Maid with Grandma.  We played every time we went to visit, spending hours gathered around the kitchen table sliding the Old Lady from one person to another.  Grandma enjoyed playing games.  As kids, we spent two weeks with Grandma each year, one during the summer and the other at Christmas.  Every time we stayed, we spent countless hours playing games and laughing.  We played Aggravation, Parcheesi, Spoons, Kings on the Corner, Boggle, Scrabble, Crazy Eights, Thirty-One, Twenty-One and, of course, Old Maid.

Days had an enjoyable predictable routine at Grandma's.  You'd wake just after the sun for breakfast at 7 a.m., lunch at 11:30, and dinner at 5:00.  In the summer, every day had some kind of adventure.  We'd walk through parks, visit lakes, and climb hills.  Every day Grandma would fill her picnic basket with lunch surprises and into the car we would pile.   When we arrived home it was dinner and then games.  The days were filled with love as Grandma worked her magic.

Today is Grandma's birthday.  It's been awhile since we gathered around the table for games and laughter, but I think of her often and smile at the wonderful gift she was to me.  I can still hear her laugh.  There are a million memories she tucked in my heart, but one of my favorites is my grandma, queen of the games.