My west coast brother is coming tomorrow with his wife for a visit for the first time in four years. On Saturday we will be joined by their son and his four children. The visit four years ago was a sad one, for the funeral of our brother, before the pandemic shut everything down. This visit is, hooray, just for fun and I am so excited. Coincidentally today is "Perfect Family Day." Now I am not claiming that ours is a perfect family but we are, happily, a functional family. Ours is not a family who fights, at least not as adults. I must admit to some yelling matches with my older brother when we were pre-teens (the time he put worms on my bed to wake me up comes to mind) but we grew out of it. Our family gatherings now tend to be filled with laughter and comfortable conversations. This may be put to the test on Sunday when 19 of my nearest and dearest will be gathered for a mini family reunion. I've been thinking about being a functional family and I think part of it may be due to being a game playing family. I have fond memories of my grandpa, parents and aunt and uncle playing cards on holiday afternoons while we cousins played marathon games of Monopoly. At the funeral of a cousin some years ago his children reminisced about his love of playing games. I was pleased to learn that it was a family thing with them also. I think it's possible that a lot of aggression might be being worked out non-violently while playing games. In preparation for this visit I have dusted off my dominoes so we can play Mexican Train, one of my favorite games, but one that really needs at least four people to play. And speaking of games, if any of you have been wondering how the ongoing Gin Rummy contest referred to in a recent blog is going, I must admit that I have not yet had my revenge. But I am not giving up. My turn will come. Maybe game playing also teaches perseverance and/or denial.
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