Instead of watching the boob
tube, we played games.
UpWords and Cribbage were
two favorites. And no, we didn't count points in UpWords --
playing instead to get rid of all the letters in our tray. As much
as I liked Scrabble when younger, UpWords is one game that is
better in it's newer updated version.
Boaters Note: The letter blocks
in UpWords lock in place so even if the boat rocks, your tiles
wouldn't move. If I weren't a soloist, I'd have my game onboard.
Instead, it's at the Kidlet's house for Friday Game Night
parties.
We also talked. I know: what a
concept, eh? The house was on a canal so fishing became important
and the Kidlets used my old dinghy too. Son managed to meet and
make friends with every fruit tree owner on the canal.
But my favorite was in the
evenings when one or both of the children and I would go waterside to
fish. In the dark there was a lot of communication without
judgment. It's my belief they were more comfortable sharing
intimacies and asking questions because I couldn't see them --
perhaps an imagined level of anonymity?
Whatever it was, I know it was
an important time for me. I was privileged to know my children as
they matured (somewhat sporadically) and they knew I was there for
them too.
It was a lonesome time for me --
newly divorced, though the one thing I knew instinctively was:
The most
dangerous person in the world to a
child is the step-father or mother's boyfriend.
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