I 'GREW UP' IN A DINING ROOM, AFTER LUNCH PARTY BRIDGE FAMILY.... EVERYONE PLAYED SOME FORM OF CARDS AT A 'CARD TABLE' ....MY GRANDMOTHER HAD A FOLDING TABLE, JUST LIKE THE ONE IN THE PHOTO, ABOVE, AROUND WHICH FOUR DINING TABLE CHAIRS WERE PLACED....AND, OFTEN, ANOTHER CHAIR OR TWO FOR SPECTATORS/BRIDGE LEARNERS....... CONTRACT BRIDGE WAS, OF COURSE, KING OF CARD GAMES; ALTHOUGH, WHEN NON-BRIDGEPLAYERS WERE AROUND AT 'CARD/GAME TIME'....CANASTA/SAMBA WERE THE OTHER OPTION.........BEFORE AFTERNOON BRIDGE SESSIONS, IT WAS COMMON FOR LADIES TO HAVE THEIR HAIR AND NAILS 'DONE' AT WILLA'S BEAUTY SALON, SO THEY WOULD LOOK 'GOOD' AT THE TABLE..... OFTEN, THERE WAS AN AFTERNOON BREAK IN THE GAME...FOR ICED TEA OR COFFEE AND A PLATE OF SHARED DESSERTS, AFTER WHICH....REFUELED BY CAFFEINE AND SUCROSE....PLAYERS WERE 'BACK AT IT' TO WIN THOSE RUBBERS......ONCE A WEEK, AS MANY AS 12 FAMILY MEMBERS... GRANDMOTHER AND HER SISTERS, THEIR ADULT CHILDREN AND THEIR SPOUSES, NEIGHBORS, AND FRIENDS WOULD PLAY IN THE LARGER LIVING ROOM WITH THE 'DUMMYS' MONITORING THE ACTIVITIES OF CHILDREN, GRATEFUL FOR THE ADULTS BEING DISTRACTED BY BRIDGE TABLE ACTIVITIES, THAT RAN AROUND IN ALL THE OTHER ROOMS....I PLAYED BRIDGE, REGULARILY, FROM THE AGE OF 8 UNTIL MY MID-60'S.....DURING 'COLLEGE DAYS', WHEN I WAS ON THE VANDERBIT UNIV. INTER-COLLEGIC BRIDGE TEAM....THEN, AS AN ADULT, ONCE OR TWICE A WEEK AT MY OR ANOTHER PLAYER'S HOME; AND, ON SUNDAYS, AT THE BACKSTREET BAR IN MIDTOWN, ATLANTA......HOWEVER, AS MY BRIDGE-PLAYER FRIENDS MOVED AWAY OR DIED...ESPECIALLY DURING THE AIDS EPIDEMIC....AND SOME HAVING BECOME ADVERSE TO 'NIGHT DRIVING'....THEN 'DAY DRIVING'.....THE REGULARITY OF BRIDGE-PLAYING EVENTS DWINDLED TO 'ZERO'......I MISS THE SOCIAL ASPECTS OF 'PARTY BRIDGE'....NOT ONLY THE REPARTE', BUT THE SERVING/EATING OF SNACKS...EVEN ENTIRE MEALS...DURING BRIDGE SESSIONS THAT COULD LAST FOR ENTIRE DAYS/EVENINGS......
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