Game on for new family member!
One of the best blessings of Thanksgiving 2021 was setting another place at the table for my future son-in-law, Daniel. Besides being patient, ruggedly handsome and a just all-around great guy, his manly presence offset the varying levels of estrogen in the kitchen. But so much of Thanksgiving is about tradition and we were about to find out if Daniel would embrace ours.
Our tradition of playing games started in the late 80s when my four children were in their teens to early 20s. I learned a lot about each one’s unique sense of humor through these games. The Clements family game thing developed a persona of its own. My oldest son Steve even brought army buddies and a college housemate home to join in. I’m not sure how it happened but they arrived under the impression that we were very competitive. My little family? Really?
Not everyone introduced into our family has been a game player. In retrospect, those who weren’t are no longer part of the family but I think that was a result of their own games! In the prophetic words of Daniel’s soon-to-be step-daughter, Georgia, “If he survives the family game challenge, he’s a keeper.”
Of the many games in the game cabinet, Pictionary was one game we particularly enjoyed. Daughter Stacy was artistic so she never lacked for a partner. My husband Bob and youngest son Rob were more alike than either would probably ever admit and one year that similarity made Clements Pictionary history. In a matter of seconds with a couple of pencil strokes, and in what I remember now as Rob’s simplistic two circles and a line, Bob guessed Charles Lindbergh’s flight across the Atlantic! It happened so fast we suspected collusion but faced with their earnest denials and knowing the players, we eventually discarded that idea. We’ve all had those moments where we’re so attuned to someone else that we finish their thought after one spoken word. Well, that’s what happened the night my husband became a Pictionary legend.
Back then, I really didn’t view us as competitive but obviously Steve’s college housemate Clint did. We learned later that Clint, a stand-up comedian while in college, didn’t come for the games, he came for the free meal and to feed his crush on my younger daughter, Jessica. Unfortunately, the Pictionary pressure was too great and he resorted to cheating. Pretending to start a drawing and then scratching through it, he would hurriedly scribble a word clue to young Rob. Clint’s “clues” weren’t any better than his drawings so Rob never understood the scribble.
Two games which prevailed into the 21 century and now enjoyed by my grandchildren are Chicken Foot and Mexican Train. Steve introduced us to Chicken Foot one Thanksgiving while home from UNT. In between leftover turkey and dressing, split pea with ham soup, cookies and pie, we played a two-day marathon of Chicken Foot.
Later on, Mexican Train topped Chicken Foot as the family favorite. Granddaughter Allison, then a teenager, was the first to introduce playing two doubles at a time without the matching follow-up domino, causing extreme frustration for whoever was sitting next to her. That is when the game really did get competitive!
But back to Daniel. Did he rise to the challenge? He had never played Chicken Foot or Mexican Train before but he was a real trooper despite getting going from double-twelve down to the double-five before finally winning a round. Not only that he gave the right answers when quizzed about whether or not he liked the food! When Jessica, Daniel and Georgia left that day, there was no question in my mind… yes, Georgia, he is most definitely a keeper!
Connie Clements is a freelance reporter for the Navasota Examiner and award-winning columnist. She writes feature news articles on a weekly basis and an opinion column as the mood strikes her.