Memory Monday- How I Maybe Still Love to Play Cards

We sit across from each other at the breakfast nook table. I deal out cards as his feet dangle just above the floor. He had asked, after a game of Go Fish- "Do you know any other card games, Auntie?" I nodded, remembering.


Late evenings, two girls 29 months apart sit giggling on their bedroom floor. The older deals out cards and asks the younger, "Remember what you can put on a Jack? You always forget."

The younger smiles and says she remembers- readies her hand.

The older yells, "Go!" and they flip over their cards and laugh and squeal- "nine, ten, nine, eight, seven- no I was going to put mine there- too slow!"

There is a lull in the game as each surveys her hand. Both decide they can do nothing more and flip another card, more laughter ensues. During another lull, the younger stares intently at her cards and then up at her big sister. "Can I put an "A" on the Jack?" Her sister laughs softly, affectionately. "I told you you never remember. Nope, only a Queen or a 10." The younger frowns at her hand, but the older realizes a play and slaps down three more cards. "I win!" she yells triumphantly. "Let's play again!"

I finish dealing and stare at the sandy blond-haired boy before me. He looks like his dad but his smile is all his mom. That and his stubbornness and tender affection, too. 


"What's this game called, Auntie?" 


"Speed." I answer. The word gets caught in my throat. Why's it so hard to remember?


"Oooh, I don't know how to play, but I know it's gonna be fast!" He gets wide-eyed. Excited. Lord, he's so much like her, I say to Him Whom I know is ever-present. Help me keep it together, here.


I laugh and explain the rules. There are a few more than he'd like, but once we get going he laughs and declares he loves this game. I hesitate, then say,"Your mom and I used to play this all the time. She always beat me."


He smiles big, still so proud of her, I think. But then he announces, "I bet I could beat her." I smile at this competitive streak in him. He got that honest, too. 


"I don't know," I tease, "She was really really good!"


We sit in comfortable silence for a while. He thinking who knows what, and I...wishing for just a second for a chance to see that match-up and thousands more. 


Then- "Do you want to play again, Auntie?"


"Yep." I say finally. Thankful for this match-up right before me.