THURSDAY, JANUARY 25 2024 SOCIAL BRIDGE

 THURSDAY, JANUARY 25, 2024 - SOCIAL CONNECTIONS

Thursdays are my social bridge day.  That is special to me.

I’m not so interested in bridge; yes, I like to win, and I don’t like to lose - but that’s almost incidental at social bridge.  

This group started about five years ago at the Georgetown Recreation Center.   The Georgetown Rec Center is a great facility - two full-size gyms, a well-used weight and exercise equipment room, aerobic classrooms, and a walking track that overlooks one of the gyms.  But like many facilities of a similar nature, the community has grown (one of the fastest-growing cities in America), and it is very busy.

In summer, the rec center does a lot with youth programs.  The parents of school-aged children use the rec center as a “daycare center,” and they don’t have space for a small bridge group in the summer.  

So, we moved to a small senior center - Stonehaven Senior Center.  I’m not well-versed in senior centers (it's only been about ten years since I became a “senior”).  

Stonehaven is like most senior centers - card games, a jigsaw puzzle table, a bookshelf with donated books, a kitchen, and three large meeting rooms.  This senior center is unique as it also has a thrift shop.  It is like an HOA (homeowners association) in a small senior/low-income community.  

When COVID came, we stopped playing.  We already were a cohesive group, so I started writing a weekly blog for this group.  (I reuse the “Bridge Brat Bulletin” as my Sunday Funday blog!!!).  I didn’t want the group to dissolve because of COVID-19, so over the last four years, every Wednesday, I have “published” a “Bridge Brat Bulletin.”

We generally have from eleven to sixteen people.  Since bridge is a card game with four people at a table, It is nicer when we have multiples of four people.  (On days like last week when we had fourteen people, two people sit out and rotate back in.)

We play four hands in a set.  The winners stay at the same table (but the two people split up so they are no longer partners).  The losers make “the walk of shame” and move to the next table for the next four hands.  (It’s not really all that “shameful.”)

I’m not a great bridge player.  I might qualify as “good” (but that might be a little too much ego).  I count my cards, bid appropriately (although sometimes I can go overboard), and play appropriately.   If my partner and I make our bid - we’ll high-five each other.  We’ll do a post-hand analysis (“I only had six counts” and “We matched up well”). 

And, we kid and laugh.  

For me (and hopefully for others), it is a delightful 2.5 hours of fun and fellowship.  

I go home - (and get my “infamous” nap), but I smile - win or lose.  I almost always have a good time.

*****

There are two better players in the group.  I sense that I infringe upon their morality as a transgender woman.  They are the only two that correct my play.  The first few times, I was hurt.  I’ve apologized to them for my poor play.  Anymore, I try to avoid playing with them.  I prefer being with fun people.  

*****

Yes, I have other friends.  I rarely see any of this group any other time.  We do lunch together monthly - but we all have our other activities.  But, once a week for a (generally) magical time a group of twelve (plus or minus) people can together and laugh, smile, avoid politics, and enjoy life!!

LOVE DOES WIN

LOVE TRANSFORMS

Karen Anne White, ©, January 25, 2024