Play the game

I have made an unlikely friend.

Pat is a very nice eighty year old lady. I believe she is in the hospital for a stroke and she has Parkinson’s.

Many many years ago when I was not even in my teenage years I got stuck visiting my paternal grandmother by myself for a few days on a few occasions. My maternal grandmother was a wonderful person who I miss to this day. My paternal grandmother not so much. She had her favourites in the family and our branch were not it. Visiting her was a chore. She did teach me how to play crib. She played daily for some reason. It is not one of my favourite games.

Pat loves to play crib and I like Pat so I play crib with Pat. She is good company. I have met her husband Jim and he still works at eighty years of age refinishing hardwood floors. He prepares food for her from home and visits frequently. I have not so much won the large majority of the games so much as I have dominated them. For some reason I am on a bit of a hot streak. Sometimes the cards just go your way. Pat has taken it as a challenge to beat me. Her husband has enjoyed watching me win as he has suffered numerous defeats to her. We have some entertaining games.

She has speech therapy sessions here and I have gone over some of her word lists to help her out. I have listened to her say the words, marked down some of the ones she had trouble with, and gone over them with her later. I check in on her a few times a day to see if she is doing okay. Be nice to people. It usually costs you nothing.