The Chronicles Of Nay

Hello, welcome! I hope that everyone is doing well! This weekend went by fast. The problem is now without class I don’t have anywhere to be so I don’t have to keep track of what day it is! haha This weekendI ticked off another movie and 2 more letters for my pictures. I need about 12 more letters. Ashley has a plan for an adventure this week and I am hoping to tick off at least one more letter maybe 2!

In the last blog I mentioned that I had stories about playing games with my grandpa. Let me start by saying if you knew my Grandpa Chava you know that he liked to hit the casino. He enjoyed playing cards and dominos. He also had some very specific rules when it came to playing games with him. For instance, no food at the table. Another rule was that you had to be able to shuffle because no one is exempt from having to take a turn to deal. Finally there is no crying at the table. He didn’t believe that since we were young we should win. He let us win every now and then to make sure that we kept playing with him but I will tell you that we only won when he allowed us to. So we lost a lot!

Something I didn’t realize till I was older was that the man could count cards. He used to make us play blackjack with him so that he could practice. When we would say “hit me” he would ask “you want a big one or a small one?” If I wanted a small one he would be like “nope don’t take this one then” and It blew my mind when he was right. I mean now that I am an adult and have seen the movie 21 I understand the card counting thing. He counted his dominoes too but I mean in the grand scheme of things that one was a little easier. It always baffled me when we would be playing and he would say “you have the other 4 just play it”. I mean now I for sure catch myself doing it but at 10 It was mind blowing! haha

We used to play a card game called concan. It was kinda like a rummy style game with some specific rules. Once you play a set of cards down then they are free to be played on from others. And if a card that plays in your hand is discarded you have to pick it up. During either cards or dominoes if I discarded something that he needed he would say “I need that, you need to pay more attention” or “You should know what I have in my hand why did you throw that?” I remember thinking ” How the heck would I know what you have!?!?” He didn’t understand that people weren’t just able to do it.

I catch myself doing this now. When I play cards or games with people I catch myself keeping track of cards that have passed or what they are collecting or the card they are looking for. I chuckle to myself sometimes when they throw a card I need and I think wow why did they do that! haha So yes, when we play, I am observing what you play and what you don’t play on top of what I am playing!

I learned a lot from mt Grandpa during those game sessions. Here are a few of the things I learned

1) Playing games is a great way to spend time with family and friends.

2) You don’t always have to let kids win

3) Sometimes holding something back is just as beneficial as playing it.

4) When you are playing a game you need to give your full attention or someone might yell at you! haha

I have some great memories of playing cards and dominoes with my grandpa from my childhood. I miss him! I value all of the times he made me play blackjack with him so that he could practice counting cards. My love of games runs deeper than I like to win. Games with grandpa were never about winning, since we didn’t often, they were about the time spent together and memories built. Don’t get me wrong I enjoy beating you all at the games I play but more than anything I enjoy spending time with you because I know that years down the road that is what we will remember. Not how many times I let you win!