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There is no doubt most of us middle aged people have memories of long gone relatives gathered around someone's kitchen table with a pack of cards. Children were excited and proud to be counted in as players, while the adults were thankful there was an activity to herd us all in. There were no age limitations when playing cards, whether we were all, young and old, playing Rummy, War, Crazy Eights, or Go Fish. The bigger the table, the better the game. The older ones paired up with the smaller tots on the laps to help hold the cards. I can still remember trying to copy the older ones when it was my turn to shuffle the deck.

While board games were fun also, it was hard to get everyone close enough to the board. With cards, people could play in pairs much easier than pairing up with Monopoly or Scrabble. There were no restrictions to the number of people playing. Too many people, you used two decks or paired up. I never learned how to play Solitaire until I was an adult, because there was no such thing as only one player when a deck of cards were around.

Playing cards are the cheapest form of entertainment there is. No game pieces to keep up with, no board to store, no electricity required, no controllers to buy, no batteries to recharge and no worries about carpal tunnel syndrome or vision problems.

We bought games for our children as they were growing up, Nintendo's, Super Nintendo's, Mouse Trap, etc, but when the power outages of winter came yearly, the cards were our saving grace to be easily played in front of the fireplace by the light of candles. Summer vacations at the coast, a deck of cards packed were as important as packing your swim trunks.

When elderly relatives come for long visits, they wanted to play cards instead of learning a new board game and forget about explaining Donkey Kong and buttons to jump, run, hop or shoot. Senior centers have Bridge and Canasta games constantly going on, instead of Monopoly or Wii. Young men and older men gather together for poker games, not Scrabble or video war games.

Playing cards are not just about playing a game. There is communication involved. You teach your children how to win and lose with grace and to simply relax and have fun. You can learn a lot about your parents, grandparents, children, in-laws and friends simply by gathering around the table with a deck of cards.

Some of my friends have younger children or teenagers now and they complain about the children addicted to the Playstations or the gameboys. The teens play alone in their rooms all night, only coming out to eat or bathe. There is no communication while Junior is battling the evil forces with frantic pushing of buttons and the parents have no desire to press buttons with them after longs days of work. Road trips involve game boys or Ipods, again no interaction.

At least for the baby boomer generation, card games have stood the test of time. Maybe the go green generations to come will unplug their games and return to the eco friendly card games again for entertainment and hopefully have good memories of card playing when they were growing up.

Learn more about this author, Madison Briggs.
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