The Way He Was
Story by Harvey Bernstein (BBO: hjb0416) A number of years ago, maybe in the lat...
Story by Melissa Steele (BBO: Happydazej)
My dad taught my mom to play bridge when they met in college and the game was important to both of them. My dad, I am told, assisted Goren in the writing of one of his bridge books. My parents, I'm sure, taught my brothers to play and they taught my sister and me. I am the youngest of four and was born into an over-crowded 2 bedroom house in Santa Barbara, Ca where my dad was still a student.
My siblings were shocked and dismayed when my parents informed them that I was on the way, and my older brothers wanted to know, "where will you put it?" But, the story goes, they needed a fourth and so I was destined to be that fourth.
I remember playing bridge on the floor of my brothers' room in Winnipeg, Canada. After going down several tricks, my brother David admonished me. "Can't you add? You can't open with eight points!!" Sadly, I was five-years-old and in fact couldn't yet add.
Over the years we would play bridge when the four of us were in the same city so rarely, as we are scattered across Canada from B.C. to Halifax, but BBO has made regular family bridge games possible. We chat and catch up and play some bridge. Our mom won't venture onto BBO but has a regular in-person bridge group in her town on Vancouver Island.
This summer, to celebrate our mom's 90th birthday, all four of her kids and a few other family members took her on a cruise to Alaska where we played several hands of bridge together every day.
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Love this story. The family that plays together, stays together.
Great story thank you
Très sympathique de continuer à jouer au Bridge en famille !
Such a sweet, beautiful story! Thank you for sharing. I am almost 87, and, sadly, neither of my daughters play bridge -- I didn't learn until they were already grown and out of the house. But I dearly love BBO for being able to bring people together to play bridge just about any day and any time of day!
My husband learned bridge in England during an industrial period while completing a co-op degree. During lunch periods he was taught by a group of players. A few years later when he came to live in Canada, we met and eventually married and retired near my birthplace in Cornwall, Ontario where my Aunt, a long time bridge player, along with a few others founded a bridge club. Even though I had no interest, she kept urging me to learn bridge and eventually wore me down. I took a class and never looked back. We play in multiple clubs usually twice a week, my husband is currently a club director and an executive for Unit 192 which is part of District 1. I am always on the lookout for new players and encourage those who wish to learn. There is truly no other game like bridge, no two hands are alike.
Would love to know what ship you did your Alaska cruise on. I couldn't find a bridge game when I went on the Norwegian Encore.
Lovely
Great story!