Card game was a celebration

Happy birthday, Mom. We still miss you.

My daughter bought me a new phone a few weeks ago. It speaks Arabic and thinks my name is Jeremy. I have no idea how or why it thinks this. We took it to the store and the kid there taught it English and also let it know that I wasn’t Jeremy.

We went to the grocery store after the minor victory with the phone. We were putting the groceries away when my hubby announced that we had company.

I assumed that it would be my brother Michael and his wife on his way to the tractor show that was in town. I was wrong.

When I went outside to see what he was talking about, I saw Carolyn and her husband, Lanny. Carolyn and her twin, Marilyn, are my grandmother’s youngest brother’s kids. Technically they were Mom’s cousins, not mine. They are a few years younger than me. I ushered them inside and quickly put away anything that needed to be in the freezer and settled in for a nice visit. 

Lanny and Carolyn had spent the day exploring the many garage sales that go along with the annual Tri-State Antique Engine and Tractor Show. Carolyn told us that her sister, Marilyn had retired but after spending less than a week at home went back to work part time because she was bored to pieces. On the other hand, Carolyn loves every minute of retirement.

We had a nice visit and they left before the next rain storm began.

The next day I was eating breakfast when the phone rang. I picked it up and wondered if it knew I was Diana and not Jeremy. Apparently it did because the caller was my brother, David. He said they were coming to town and asked if we would like to go to the tractor show with them. I said, “Sure.” 

A couple hours later they pulled into the driveway. We took off and headed for the fairgrounds. It didn’t seem like there were as many vendors as usual. There were a lot of people, but again, it didn’t seem like there were as many as usual.

We each found something to take home with us and lots of things to leave behind. We caught up on family news at a local restaurant and agreed to meet with our brother, Michael and his wife, Diane.

David said we should play cards in honor of Mom, whose birthday is today. We found a deck of cards and enough chairs for everyone. 

Some of Mom’s favorites games were War, Steal Pile, Slap Jack and 500. We settled on 500. I earned an impressive number of losses. We were getting tired of playing and I was talking instead of paying attention. They all yelled at me to pick up a card. I stole one of Apryl’s cards with the reasoning that we were doing this to honor all the card games Mom had taught us over the years. 

She frequently cheated but wasn’t as blatant about it as I was. We played another game or two before calling it quits. I loaded up a sack of cucumbers for Michael and Diane before saying goodbye. 

That was the most company we have had in ages. I loved every minute of it. We have all had the vaccine but as we know, the vaccine doesn’t keep us completely safe, but it does keep us from dying.

Celebrating Mom’s birthday by playing cards, and occasionally cheating, was a fun way of honoring her. Having unexpected visitors would have made her happier than any present we would have purchased.

Me, I’m just glad I am not called Jeremy any more.