Story by Mike Davidson (Gator411)

From the time I was old enough to sit up, I found that playing cards was fun. While the early games were very simple and centered around “War,” “Go Fish,” “Spades,” etc., they began to evolve into more sophisticated games like gin, rummy, pinochle, and others. While I had heard about bridge, I really had little interest in learning it.

During my college years, I worked the midnight shift, and since there were only two of us on this shift, we played buck euchre during our free time. Then came graduation and my first job. I started working as a chemist in an office with about ten other chemists.

One day, three guys asked me to come into one of the offices at lunchtime, saying they needed someone to fill in because their fourth had retired and they “needed me.” Of course, I said I knew nothing about the game! They were desperate and said, “Just hold the cards, and we’ll tell you what to do.” I thought, why not?

That was my first exposure to bridge, and after “playing” a little each day at lunchtime, the “bridge bug” got me. I found myself thinking, wow, this is really a very interesting game. With that, I took one of the books they gave me home to learn some of the rules and various conventions. I suddenly realized that all other card games were now very boring, except for an occasional hand of solitaire.

That was many years ago, and here I am nearly fifty years later, still playing and loving the game. I have played duplicate in tournaments, but I most enjoy my game with three guys, now for 16 years. We haven’t missed a week (except for vacations), and even during COVID, Bridge Base was there for us as a wonderful “bridge” to keep us playing together without a hitch.