Tradition is not the worship of ashes, but the preservation of fire.
Gustav Mahler
Well, I made it. Can’t say everything’s where I want it to be, but I’m not entering this next week even further behind. Plus, aside from trudging through the swamp that is work, there’s nothing that’s going to capture my nights so I’m free to put that time into trekking further out of the swamp or doing a little mental break where necessary.
This past week, though, my parents came into town to watch the kids’ school musical and help out with other stuff. Was nice to see them again, and while the missus and I were busy running around they took the time to spend time with their grandkids and, notably, bring them into the fold of Elias card players.
For the uninitiated, my mother’s family is INCREDIBLY into card games. They’ve got a mental rolodex of umpteen thousand short games that they play for small amounts of money. Every time a game ends, the dealer changes and the game changes. Trash talk is pretty much a requirement.
Now that the kids are all a little older and can manage to grasp these games, my parents have made it a goal to make sure they try one or two new ones every time they’ve got them. Sitting here watching them play (low player count or I’d be in there too), I can’t help but think of myself at those tables when I was younger. Not playing, of course – kids weren’t allowed at the table in the Elias days – but just being there. Being around it. Hearing it all. The joy, the togetherness, the, well… yelling. I loved it then and I love it now.
They probably didn’t think of it this way then, and they might not think of it now, but those nights built tradition. They built something that lasted from back when they were young through their children and grandchildren and, God willing, through more generations to come.
That last part is on me, though. Games are great. They get us thinking, analyzing, interacting. They bring us together and, when you’re part of this family, build some thicker skin. It’s wonderful, and with all the options at my fingertips there’s no excuse but to get people together at least once a night to play. So that’s exactly what I’ll be doing.
We could all use a little more games in our lives, I think.
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As we go through the process of cleaning up / out the kids’ rooms, we keep finding bags and boxes of stray Lego hidden in eldritch geometry. On one hand, annoying. On the other, it’s nice to finally be able to close some of these things out.
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