A Simple Game of Scrabble
I learned to be competitive early on playing games. My family played board games, card games and any kind of games out there. As I got older, Scrabble became THE family game! My mom and dad were great! They saw ALL THE WORDS! It was tough to beat them. My sister was also super smart and she knew all these big fancy words. I had no idea whether I should challenge her or not when she played. It was tough. It took a while for me to start winning some games.
The older I got, the better I played. I did not take as long to play my words and I could see plays that would get me higher points. I was finally feeling like I belonged at the “Scrabble table!” Seriously, our Scrabble table was always set up and ready for a game.
When my sister and I moved out of the house, we each had a game to take with us. We knew we had to practice because we knew good and well our parents were playing. I would get phone calls from my dad asking if a word my mom had played was a real word or not. I would hear my mom in the background saying, “Do you not believe me, challenge me Ray. Look it up!” My dad didn’t want to lose his turn. It was so funny! They would also call and tell me when they beat their highest score! It was going to be recorded in the top of the Scrabble box with the date for sure!
Many times when visiting my parents for holidays or just for the weekends, my husband and kids would be ready to go and couldn’t find me. After looking everywhere, they usually would find me back in my parent’s room playing scrabble with one of them. They would always patiently wait for me… they knew this was our family thing!
Scrabble has always brought out all the emotions too! I still get a little angry when my sister beats me - we compete like crazy! I remember laughing so hard when my sweet mom played an inappropriate, but legal word. She just smiled innocently. I felt proud when I would play with my dad and he would say, “WOW that was a GREAT PLAY!” If he wasn’t playing, he would always walk in and say “Let me see your letters” and he would move them around on my tray and show me a great place to get a bunch of points. Just recently my mom commented about how much better I have gotten as an adult, that I play much faster than I used to. Ha! It made me smile. All these memories make my heart happy!
My friends joke about our family Scrabble tradition and how seriously we take it. It’s like a never ending story that just keeps going on. Unfortunately, since my dad passed away, my sweet momma hasn’t played as much. My sister and I make sure each time we are with her we play at least one game. At the end of each game we add up the scores to see if we need to write it in the lid of the Scrabble box. Mom always comments, “That was a great game!” or “That wasn’t a very good game.” Lately, I’ve been thinking about that….. The scores might not always be great, but they are ALWAYS great games! When playing Scrabble, I get to slow life down for a little bit and just be with the people I love! It is way more than the game, and isn’t that what life is all about?
I looked up the origin of Scrabble. The originators named the game Scrabble and define it as “to grasp, collect or hold on to something.” How perfect is that? I have amazing lifetime memories that I am grasping tightly, collecting and will hold onto forever. AND… I plan on making more! All this from just a simple game of words.
For you it may not be Scrabble, but it’s something. It could be cooking together, traditional Sunday car rides after church, or watching a football game and then “discussing” it afterward. Think about the times you spend on a regular basis with the people you love the most! What makes these times so special? How will you be able to pass these traditions on? Why is it important to do so?