Playing the Odds

Kanasta....

It just blows my mind how many memories I have with Gord. He loved Kanasta. I have so many memories playing Kanasta with friends, family and Gord.

If he won he would say it was a game of skill, if he lost he would say it was a game of probability. He was fairly competitive. But sometimes he would get excited for me if I had a good hand or a good moment. We would try and sneak a game in sometimes when the boys were around, it never worked...they needed too much attention. Actually our best Kanasta games happened before kids.

When we lived in Grande Cache we had weekend marathons when company would come down. Usually girls against the guys. I clearly remember when Gord's parents came down and his mom and I teamed up and we won all weekend long. So fun! Gord kept trying to coach his dad. Over the years...they won too but Diane and I usually dominated.

I remember another weekend marathon with my brother and sister in law. Chris has a reputation of looking at others cards. He would say it 's your responsibility to make sure he couldn't see them. We played couple against couple. I remember it got super competitive. Lot's of banter and smash talk around the table. Part of the fun...most of the time.

Gord was a game guy. He liked to win, to liked to be challenged and he like to have fun.

We went through a Settlers of Catan phase. It was the new thing to do when we first moved to Hinton. I can remember getting together at friends houses while our babies slept, cried and nursed, we carried on for hours. I also remember getting babysitters and then the fun really began. If you got to play settlers with Gord you have memories of playing with Gord. He was competitive, clever and fun.

Poker! In our early dating times, Gord played poker with coworkers. One evening he called me every 3 hours to tell me he won again, again and again. Eventually he just had to leave because he sensed that his playmates were becoming hostile towards his winnings. He loved playing the odds! Poker also ran a phase. Good times!

Any Trivia game and he was in. He knew the oddest things. But it all makes sense now. Around the days of the funeral both families gathered in my living room to share memories. Diane, Gord's mom shared that Gord loved reading encyclopedias. For fun, in his childhood...during his spare time he read encyclopedias. I wonder why he never told me that?...I think that is incredible. Sure explains plenty. He just always seemed to know something about everything. But the greatest part about Gord's intelligence was he was humble. He never made me feel inadequate or less than. In fact, I would tell he was genius and he would say, " I don't know Jen, I still think there is still so much I don't understand, still so much to learn."

I will always miss playing games with Gord. His competitive nature made games challenging and fun. He was a great sport...most of the time... ;)