Story by Edward Brennan (BBO: edward235)

I did play cards before going to Georgetown in 1959, like Canasta, Samba, and Gin Rummy, and of course the first card games were probably Old Maid and Go Fish at a young age. I also learned to play Hearts and Spades in high school. My parents played “Mama and Papa Bridge,” but they never taught me, and I was given the impression that bridge was an adult-only game. At that time, that was really true.

In 1959, during my freshman year at Georgetown, I went to a mixer at Dumbarton College for girls. It was a flop as no one was there, but in the corner were four students playing cards. I went over and asked what they were playing, and they said Bridge. That was it. I watched for a bit, then they asked if I wanted to join in. I did, received a lot of advice, and actually learned what a finesse was.

I continued playing this new card game and played a lot by the time I was a senior at Georgetown. I even started a bridge club affiliated with the ACBL, and I have been a member since 1962.

After leaving Georgetown, I went back to Long Island and taught in Riverhead, New York, for five years. I played bridge at least twice a week, and in 1968 I was asked to be the director at the East Hampton Guild Hall Bridge Club, which I did for two years. I was also one of the first to take the Director’s test in 1969 and passed.

After that, I went overseas to work for the Department of Defense Education System, where I worked for 32 years. I was on Midway Island for one year, in Bamberg for one year, in Schwaebisch Gmuend for six years, and finally in the UK. I retired in the UK in 2002 and still live here. During this time, I did all sorts of things with bridge, directing, teaching, and some tournament play.

I never became a Life Master in the US. I think I still need a few gold points, as I was rarely there. I did OK in the UK and made Life Master, but it was never especially important to me, as it is to many today.

As a classroom teacher, I taught bridge to my 11 and 12 year olds, starting with Mini Bridge, which I thought was a brilliant scheme developed by the Dutch in the 1990s.

I now play bridge online with friends as my eyes are failing, but I still manage. COVID put a halt to going out in the evenings, and I am just as happy to play at home.

So as of today, I have been playing bridge for some 66 years, and I would do it again in a flash. It is a wonderful game, and I have made many new friends. I am glad the 2 over 1 system is around, as it makes the bidding sequences much easier to follow.

That is my story.