Friday, February 15, 2013

Cards Anyone?



Chopping the hamburger that is sizzling in the pan, I hear the door open and my husband walks through, kicking off his overshoes just inside the door. "Supper is ready" I mention as I turn the burner on the stove down to low. Shawn washes up and the kids make their way into the kitchen as I set the pan onto the potholder amid the taco shells, lettuce and cheese in the center of the table. "Can we play cards after supper?" Karissa asks and I smile with excitement awaiting a "yes" response from the guys. We have been playing a lot of family card games lately, as many nights as possible, and even weekend afternoons and snow days.  "Five Hundred" is our current game of choice.  We keep score (mostly just to keep track of when we should finish) and we laugh and we chat and we argue about who's turn it is to deal or about who gets mom for a partner.  (How come no one ever wants me for a partner?)

We finish eating and quickly throw the dirty dishes into the sink. (No time for doing dishes now ... we've got cards to play!) I wipe off the counter as Shawn gathers the cards and the score sheet, Karissa finishes the cookie she was eating, and Christian quickly finishes a text to a friend.  As Shawn begins dealing the cards, I remind Christian to put his phone away and Karissa launches into a story that happened in school that day. I ask her how her History Day project went while I begin to assemble the cards in my hand.  Shawn gives me a nudge … "It's your bid,” he says.  "Oh ... I pass," I state with a smile.  Okay, so we are ready to play ... Shawn and Karissa are trying for ‘Eight Clubs’. "We can set them!" I tell Christian as I rearrange the Jack of Spades to its’ new, prestigious spot next to a couple other small clubs I have in my hand.  The game begins as we toss in the ‘Joker’ and ‘bowers’ and smaller trump, all in turn.  Shawn and Karissa run the table for the most part, but Christian and I manage to capture a couple tricks.  Finally, it comes down to the wire, as we each lay down our final cards, hoping to win the round ... Shawn has the highest card and he takes the trick, banging his fist on the table as he lays down his card with excitement...

And the sound takes me back ... Memories flood my mind of myself as a small child, half asleep late at night, listening to the sounds of my parents playing cards in the kitchen ... in my memory, I am startled awake as one of their fists bangs onto the table as they lay the ultimate good card.  I also have memories of sitting under the kitchen table with my brothers and my cousins, carefully sneaking cards from the piles of tricks and pushing them up through the cracks in the center of the table.  (I don't think our parents were too fond of that move!)  Next my mind wanders to memories of my late teen and young adult years when Shawn and I would play cards on Sunday afternoons with my brothers and my parents.  Again, they would all argue about who got me for a partner ... I can't imagine why! ... "Kendra, it’s your turn!"  I hear one of my brothers yell ...

"Mom, it's your deal," one of my kids tells me as they shove the cards my way.  Back in reality, I pick up the deck and begin to shuffle.  The cards bend and flutter rhythmically as I shuffle the cards again and again.  By sets of two, I begin to send the cards around the table, then decide to deal them by threes, pausing to throw a few in the ‘blind’.  As Shawn and the kids begin contemplating their cards, my mind wanders for a moment longer …

It’s amazing how cards can cross generations and other barriers.  My Grandma and Grandpa Einck are the King and Queen of playing ‘Tic’ and love to talk others into playing a game or two; and my Grandma Bohr was the Queen of anything that had to do with cards in her day.  One of my fondest memories of my Dad is the time that he and I spent playing ‘Rummy’ on Monday mornings before I would take off at noon for another week at UNI.  It is one of the few ways he and I spent uniquely father-daughter time.

As the cards once again make their way around the table, I realize how much you can learn about life from a game of cards.  Some games are a matter of skill and strategy and sometimes it’s a matter of knowing how to communicate and work with a partner.  Many times, it is just the luck of the draw, the cards we are dealt, and sometimes there is nothing we can do about how the cards may stack up.  At times, we may think we’ve got it made … we’ve got the high card … then someone or something comes along and trumps our whole plan ... but that’s just the way it goes!  In life, like in cards, we will win some and we will lose some.  But it doesn't really matter, for in the end, it is just about the fun we had, the memories made, and the lessons learned while playing the game …

So anyway ... “Is it my turn again?”


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