Our game closet shelves are stacked with games and overflowing with memories.
One of my favorite mental snapshots is from the first fall and winter after April and Michael married. They came over at least two evenings every week, possibly to eat supper; but also to laugh, tell stories and play games.
BLOKUS was our hands-down favorite game that season.
It was a new strategy game where each player placed one color of variously conglomerated squares on a grid board.
It always started with the board wide open and full of great opportunities; but that would quickly change as the other players began moving their pieces into your space.
The printed rules object of the game was to finish using all your pieces first, but some of us played more aggressively and strategized our moves to block out the other players. It took me almost an entire game to realize Michael was deliberately mirror-mimicking my exact moves.
It’s no secret that we love ice cream at our house and I kept the freezer stocked with popsicles that fall and winter; so we’d eat popsicles and wear our coats while we played BLOKUS at the kitchen table.
That always encouraged April to remind us, once more, that I kept the house so cold when she lived here that she had to sleep in her snowsuit to stay warm. Possible truth. 🙂 🙂 🙂
Fast-forward 9 years and now Faith is dragging games out of the game closet. Most of the boxed games are too advanced for her, but we examine and play with their pieces. She took out BLOKUS the other day and we sat on the floor played.
I told her about Mommy, Day, Mama Jan, and Papa Dan sitting at the kitchen table playing BLOKUS and eating popsicles. She doesn’t know her Papa Dan, but she’ll meet him someday; and I’d like her to have a few good stories under her belt when she does.
True stories have purpose and there are many many good reasons to tell them.
Hear this,
you leaders of the people.
Listen,
all who live in the land.
In all your history,
has anything like this
happened before?
Tell your children about it
in the years to come,
and let your children
tell their children.
Pass the story down
from generation to generation.
Joel 1:2-3
Jan,
Blokus is a fun game, but one that I can never win no matter how hard I try. Julianne loves it and can always manage to beat every one.
Mary Ann
We had so much fun with it!
I never knew my grandparents because I was the youngest of all the grandchildren and to boot both my parents were the youngest in their family so that put me on down the line. However, my parents and siblings shared so many wonderful stories about them that I grew to love and appreciate them. I encourage you to continue to share stories of those who have gone ahead of us. This sweet little one will love them as you do. It’s a great gift you can give her.
So true! 🙂