Today the one word blog carnival over on Peter Pollock's blog is about games. I like games. When I was growing up, my parents, grandma, uncles, and cousins played cards when we got together. My favorites were Crazy Eights and Gin Rummy. We used to play for points, lowest points win. I can still see my cousin Diane's young face over my shoulder helping me keep score. I didn't mind keeping score, though I would have balked at having to do half that amount of math work for homework! Even if you weren't score keeper, you had to add your own hand, and yes, people were watching. In Crazy Eights, eights (the free card for changing suits) and twos ("pick up two!") were worth more than their face value. In our variation of the game, an eight was worth sixty-four points. I forgot how much a two was worth, but it was more than itself squared, though still less than sixty four. I remember eights being the worse thing to get stuck with in the end. They were great to have in the beginning when dealt, but not so great if you were holding them when someone else won.
I suppose I should say something spiritual here, perhaps suggesting that we are eights because we are worth so much more than our "face value" to God, or that finishing the game with a special card still in hand is not a life well lived, or something like that. But I'm not. I'm just going to enjoy remembering the laughter of my parents and grandmother, and the smiling youthful faces of my cousins. Or is that the other way around? Maybe I should invite what's left of the family over for a game of Crazy Eights, so that we all can share the memory.
What about you? What are the games you remember bonding over? Care to share any memories with us?
8 comments:
I have great memories of playing Crazy Eights and Gin Rummy and King's Corner with my family. My mom was always quick to suggest board games when we wanted to have friends over. I'm glad she did. We always thought it was silly when younger, but now I'm the first to suggest it when we have family get togethers. You all have to be "present" with each other.
I love playing train dominoes with my in-laws. Not so much for the game itself, but to watch my MIL straighten the dominoes every time someone set one down. They have to be "just so". It's hilarious. We put the tiles down crooked on purpose to see how many seconds it takes before she straightens them.
I remember passing childhood summers going to the swimming pool, playing baseball in our backyard, and playing every game we could figure out in Hoyle's Book of Rules. These days my kids like challenging me to a game of Rummy, Bibleopoly, Battleship, or perhaps chess.
I used to love scattergories so much. There were several games that we would take to my Grandma's house and play with her. She and my little sister would usually be on a team and they would come up with the craziest answers. :) Thanks for sharing your memories and returning us the favor.
As a child we enjoyed Monopoly. and here at our home, our family enjoys Scrabble, Aggravation, and dominoes. Yes, games are fun and we all enjoy winning.
It is difficult not to make a spiritual application, but we could still peek at your intention!! :-)
Crazy Eights, Double Solitaire, Hearts ... all were played.
I like to think that we're all eights in His eyes, special, chosen, set apart and beloved.
I can't tell you how many times I played Crazy Eights and Gin Rummy as a kid. I just walked down memory lane.
You must teach
me how to play
this crazy game.
:) :) :)
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