The day Papa almost won...

Yesterday we spent the day with our Papa & Nana, who are down visiting from Texas. (It was so nice to see them again!! As we haven't seen them in over a year.) We have a tradition, of playing 21 with my Papa when he comes down. We play with our change...and there is NO mercy in this game. If you lose...you lose. Papa has no problem taking your money and keeping it. He's the kindest, sweetest man around...but when it comes to card games...yikes. We always play for fun, usually with no more than three or four dollars in change; sometimes we come away with several dollars more, and other times, we leave with several dollars less. My Papa was been robbing poor little children of their money since my mom was in High School. She tells stories all the time, of her girlfriends coming over with their pockets full of change to play Papa...and leaving with nothing. In all the history of 21-playing with Papa--he's never lost. Somehow, one way or another, he always comes out on top. Last night tells a different story...

The day Papa came to town...

All of us Ney kids (with our tiny piles of change), Lynette and Uncle Micah, Papa and Nana and my parents all gathered around our kitchen table to try to break Papa. He's always the banker, and he's so shrewd as he wins the round and scoops every one's money off the table and pulls it towards him, the whole time bragging and boasting: "You must be real mean to your money...'cause it's just runnin' over to me!" (Picture this in a heavy Texas accent.) The game went on for hours. As our piles grew smaller and smaller, his grew larger and larger and larger and larger and...anyways, you get the picture. Eventually, those of us who hadn't lost all our money, wisely decided to drop out before we did lose it all. But there was one brave soul, who decided to single handedly take on the Man. (dum dum dum dum...dum dum dum dum...de de de do do da...) Her name was Lynette. We all expected this post to be a sorrowful post of the final fate of our poor beloved Lynette. But alas...it is only the beginning. For the next hour, Lynette and Papa went at it. No longer were they playing with chinchy silver...but paper. Laying down dollars at a time, they battled for the winning title. Papa would win almost all of Lynette's money, only for her to have an amazing card recovery, and win back most of his. Back and forth back and forth it went, until our heads hurt. Cards kept being shuffled and dealt. Finally...Papa was down to his last dollar. The room fell deathly quiet as we all witnessed a history changing event. The cards were shuffled and dealt again. We all held our breaths as Papa said, "Hit me..." and Lynette asked him, "Are you ready for another "bust" card?" He licked his lips and slowly nodded his head...everything moved in slow motion as Lynette flipped another card and it landed with a thud on top of his other cards. All eyes were glued to Papa's cards, counting them in our heads. Suddenly..."HOORAY!!" For the first time in 22 years...Papa lost. History has been redefined.

The players shook hands cordially, as us onlookers cheered for the winner and consoled the loser. Lynette stuffed her little money bag full of her winnings, then passed it around the room for all of us losers to hold and marvel at the heaviness of the small bag, which had been half as heavy when she first arrived, all while Papa graciously offered a kind and encouraging speech to Lynette. The game was over, forever etched into our hearts and minds.

Good job Lynette! ...Better luck next time, Papa!

This is the day, we will all remember as the day Papa almost won.

I could think of more to write...but Lynette is on her way over with her little red bag...I'm off to challenge her at a game of 21.