Tony Miltenberger

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65 years of marriage and she still has to be right

I love watching older couples do life together. I find so much joy in seeing the habits of happy couples play out in the daily grind of life. My wife's grandparents are a perfect example of that. When you watch them you can see the love, devotion, and 65 years of doing life together.

For example; when she cooks he does the dishes. When she gets a puzzle out, he cleans off the table. They know the habits of one another, they have lived life together. They have routines for their routines.

One of the other things that I admire about this particular couple is their love of cards. Euchre, Pinochle, or even Poker - they play them all. They love it, and it is something they have always done together. Not only do they enjoy the game, they still want to win.

This past Monday we were playing Pinochle, Grandpa was my partner and Grandma was on the other team. We were giving them an old fashioned beat down. I was pulling all the aces, Grandpa had all the meld (Pinochle term, sorry if you don't know it). We were on fire.

In the beginning of every hand you bid on how many points you can get. Grandpa and Grandma got into a bidding war the likes of which I have never seen. It felt like the Battle of the Buldge. Each person returning fire with a higher number... 22, 23, 24 the tension kept mounting, and they continued to go higher. Eventually Grandma out bid Grandpa at 35. I fully expected to see the Mona Lisa of Pinochle hands, it should have been perfect. Perfect was the only way she was going to win.

What does Grandma lay down?

One point. She had one meld. 

She loves cards, her great grandkids, and Grandpa.

In my complete and utter dismay I looked at Grandma, I didn't have to say a word, my face was enough. She looked at me and said, 

"I just didn't want him to win the bid."

65 years and they still got it.