“We cannot change the cards we are dealt, just how we play the hand.”
~ Randy Pausch
When the Shallue clan gets together, you can count on a deck or two of cards appearing on the scene.
You can also count on Tom not shaving when he's on vacation.
It was great spending time with Pop without having to go to the hospital.
His doctors finally found the right recipe to make his red blood count move up instead of down. Hallelujah!!
Cribbage is taken very seriously by the Shallue's.
Once, years ago when our power was knocked out during a hurricane, Tom taught me to play.
I won without really totally understanding what the heck I was doing. He says I skunked him twice. That irritated him so much, as soon as the power came back on, he flopped down in front of the television and we've never played a game of cribbage since.
Yes, they take it very seriously. I hope my kids were paying attention.
We also play a lot of 3-13.
It's a great game for large groups, pulling you together to talk trash, laugh, and catch up on the months (or years) since you last saw each other.
Tom's youngest brother John wanted his in-laws to meet the rest of the family, so he brought them along to the reunion. They picked up 3-13 fast, simultaneously discovering how crazy we all are, despite the language barrier (they don't speak English, and other than John and his family, the rest of us can't claim to speak more than a spattering of Spanish.)
Have you discovered Apples to Apples yet? FDIL (future daughter-in-law) Kirby brought it along and it was a hit with the youngsters, as you can see.
They even let some of us old folks play.
I have no photos of the game of Spoons that popped up late on the last night of vacation, so I'm not going to say much about it or mention the tequila that appeared about the same time.
I learned how to play, but then remembered how early I needed to wake up to hit the road, and how old I was and how much I liked to sleep, so I went on to bed, soothed by a lullaby of beloved voices and laughter (and the clank of spoons and shotglasses) not far away.
Isn't family wonderful?
(Does your family have any traditions or certain games you play when you all get together? Share!)
Long Hollow 
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