Each time I went to shul on shabbat I had to be reminded by a poke or a harumph tp join in with the mourner's kaddish. I know where they are in the services, but I never had to do with them, other than listening to them. I have to be prodded into realizing that I'm one of "them", now.
When I remind people of the things I can't do now, such as go to the movies or an upcoming Twelfth Night production, they nod sympathetically. However, they gasp when I tell them that I can't play games (during shiva, at least).
My Dad and Games
He used to play some friendly poker with the neighbors before I was born and when I was young. He used to play Bridge with my mom and other couples.
I began to visit the Nassau Community College computer center when I was very little (8 years old or younger) and he set me up on the PDP-11 VAX mainframe games of the time, which is when I learned to play Wumpus and Dungeo and similar games.
Mom and dad taught me Bridge when I was four, and he played with me many times until I was a teenager. After that it was my brothers and my mom and me, with dad joining in only when one of us was away. We played on shabbat and on our many camping trips.
I don't remember playing any other games with him, except MAYBE some occasional rummy and one D&D session we ran for my parents and their friends. I don't remember who taught me Chess and Checkers. I don't think I got him to play It's Alive; I might have gotten him to play some other new game, once.
He played less and less as the years went on. I think it was because he ended up getting into fights with Mom over Bridge, but it may simply have been that he preferred reading the newspaper.
No comments:
Post a Comment