Cards

Cards are something near and dear to my heart. Growing up, there was always a card game (and a puzzle) in motion at my Grandparents house. My Grandparents used to travel cross country every Summer for months at a time, and they always carried a deck of cards on them. 
But that's not all. 
They also carried nickels or other coins on them, to gamble with (naturally). It came to the point where everyone on my dad's side of the family had their own labeled medicine bottle with nickels inside to gamble with. I think the best part about this was that it was never competitive. No one was ever a sore loser or a gloating winner. No one was discouraged when they would lose money or get big headed when their jar was full. So far, in my experience of playing cards (or any game for that matter), this was the only group of people I could play competitive games with it somehow being noncompetitive. It truly makes the world of a difference and makes the game far more enjoyable. 
Over the past four years or so, cards have become all the more important to me. My mother, Grandma and I got into the swing of playing cards together every Sunday, for hours on end. We became such a tight knit trio that it felt strange any time an additional person would join us. It came to the point that I would drag mother to my Grandma's at least once or twice a week just to play cards for a few hours. It became a time of refuge. Somewhere I could escape to when I was having a bad day or tough week. Somehow being able to spend that time with my mom and Grandma relieved all my worries. There were many evenings that we would get so engrossed in the game and fail to notice that it was midnight. 
Before I left to move to Idaho, my mom wanted to have a special dinner with my Grandma's over. All I requested to do was play cards. It almost felt like my last meal. I felt this compelling need to get as many card games in before I would have to leave. Now my Grandma asks me if I've played cards every time we speak on the phone. The answer is sadly no. I've played two card games since moving here. It is depressing, but it only makes me all the more excited to play when I visit home for Christmas. Regardless of how this post came out, it is not meant to be sad, just reminiscent.