The Games they Play
Monday, November 21, 2011
By: Jan Nickerson

The Games they Play

THE GAMES THEY PLAY
They play games. That's what they do - word games, card games, computer games. You name it. They play it.
It starts in the morning with the daily newspaper. At the kitchen table, he works the crossword puzzle while she does the Cryptoquote and Jumble and tries to do the Sudoku. It is a red letter day when she is able to complete all three. Then, if he needs help finishing the crossword, she moves a chair next to his and together they fill in the blanks, giving each other a high five when it is completed.
Then she moves to the computer to check the status of her virtual farm on Farm Town. After visiting all of her virtual neighbors and receiving points for watering or raking at their farms she makes sure her crops are harvested and fields replanted. Her farm is her pride and joy, especially when the fields of blueberries are ripe.
On Thursday mornings she plays Mahjong with her lady friends. Often, when she returns home, she finds him playing solitaire. The deck of cards, a comfortable old friend, is well worn. His fingers aren't nimble enough to properly shuffle the deck. When they play cards together, she always does the shuffling.
On Fridays they play bridge at the Senior Center. They are substitutes but have been called upon quite often. During the past year, one of the regulars had to stop playing because of failing eyesight, one was admitted to a nursing home, and two others passed away.

Together they play a game called Skip Bo. The rules are simple: deal out thirty cards each, turn over the top one, then take five cards from the common stack and with them begin to form four rows from one to twelve. The first person to use up all thirty cards is the winner. They have played for so long that each game is a contest of wills: who can block the opponent from using the next card on the pile. They usually limit themselves to three games.
After supper and the news, they watch Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy. She is quite good at filling in the blanks and often says she should be a contestant on the show. Neither of them is good at answering the Jeopardy questions, but they usually get a few correct answers.
In the evening they play Scrabble, always trying to use up all their tiles and get an extra fifty points or have a total score of over 300.
They don't play these games for fun. They are dead serious about their games. Because this is how they keep their minds sharp, thereby staving off the day when one of them will no longer be able to remember how to play the game.