All Aboard

Each month five of my friends and I get together to play Mexican Train. For those of you who have never heard of it, Mexican Train is a game played with twelve dot dominoes, rather than the regular six dot. There is some strategy involved, but not much. Mainly you try to match numbers each turn, with the goal of having the lowest points possible at the end of the round. Mostly it is a social game and we look forward to our play day each month.


The ladies in the group range in age from 50-ish to 70-ish, all very vital and active in the community. We have, between the six of us, thirteen marriages, fourteen children and lifetimes of wisdom. With that much experience, you can imagine we have strong opinions about everything and, if put in charge, could pretty much solve all the problems in our town and most of the ones in our nation. Here is just a sample of the topics we discussed yesterday, when we had this month's get-together.

•  Recipes for all the great food we made at Christmas.
• Winter weather in Texas vs Montana (just for you, Lisa.)
• Everyone we know who is battling cancer.
• Whether I should get involved in a situation in my hometown where an old family friend has become a hoarder.
• Who is the craziest person in our town. Believe me, this is a tight race.
• How one of us has a God-given gift for finding lost jewelry.
• The ups and downs of taking Vicodin.
• Arranging the schedule for meals to be brought in for one of us who is having knee-replacement surgery next week. 
• Online yoga.
• Parents with Alzheimer's Disease.

You can see our knowledge is limitless. But in all seriousness, I love these women. I love their strength, energy and sense of family. I draw from the well of their goodness each month and come away refreshed and happy. How could a day be any better?