Tea, melba toast and cheddar cheese. This was our lunch, every day. I didn't ask if she wanted anything different. I had been going on the assumption that her meal plans couldn't be varied too greatly, due to her diabetes. Anyway, I like tea, melba toast and cheddar cheese so I didn't have anything to complain about.

Occasionally, our apres-lunch avant-nap hour would include a game of scrabble or crib. I had a fighting chance with the latter, could hold my own. At least until she would change the rules on me.

"We're playing 19 today."

"What?"

"19 crib. That's the game today."

"I've never played it. What're the rules?"

"Well, you play like normal, but if you get a hand with nothing, you can peg the 19 points."

"Ok, that's seems easy. Bet it speeds up the game."

"You feel free to think so, dear."


She beat me, easy. You'd think it'd be simple, getting a zip hand. Not so much. Every time I thought I had it, we'd cut the deck and damnitall, I'd end up with a pair, or a single 15. Lousy two points. In the mean time, I'd have thrown her pairs, or 15's or partial runs, 5's... It was frustrating. She'd count out her kitty, giggling like a school girl:

"Oooh, look at that, would you? 10 in my crib! Why, that's more than I had in my last two hands, put together!"

"Uh huh, seems to be." grumblegrumblegrumble

"And there! I won! Aren't I just the cat's pyjamas!"

"Yes, Gran. You won, congratulations." I wasn't being a sore loser, I just felt stupid. Not once did she go for a 19 hand. She played regular ol' crib, trying to get as many points as possible, and ta da! It worked. Swell.

After I'd cleaned up the table and she'd dusted the living room, we had ourselves another cup of tea. She had the little black and white tv on, but muted. We watched Bob Barker give away kisses and cars to happy, jumping people.

"You should never give away the sure thing in hopes of getting more."

"What?"

"Aren't you listening to me? I taught you a valuable lesson today, I want to be sure you understood it."

"You mean about the game?"

"I used the game to prove a point. I know you're not daft, Kari-Lynne. Think about the game and what I just said."

"No, I understand Gran, I do. But I'm not getting why you decided I needed this lesson to begin with."

"I'm old. I'll be dead soon. I'm giving away my stuff. I've put little stickers on the bottoms of everything."

"Um.. yeah. Ok.."

"That tea cup you're drinking from? That's yours. That heart-shaped candy dish you made me so many years ago? You're getting that back."

"Gran, I don't care about getting things of yours when you pass away. Besides, that won't happen for a long time, I'm certain."

"I don't care about the things either. That's why I was teaching you something. You can take it or leave it, dear. But it's good advice and God as my witness, when I'm in heaven watching over you, if I see you ever being an idiot and giving up today for tomorrow, so help me I'll come down and haunt you 'til the end of your days!"

I think I giggled a bit. "Right. But what about hopes and dreams? They're all about tomor.."

"Oh, don't give me that bullshit. Hopes and dreams are nothing more than harvesting what you planted. It's almost a karma kind of thing. You want to be rich? Fine, work and save. You want to be healthy? Fine, eat right and exercise. Eventually, you get there. It's not hopes and dreams. It's all of your todays added up and totalled. That's all."

"All right, I got it. Value what I have, don't toss it away on uncertain things."

"Right. Good girl. You can't say your grandma didn't teach you anything! Now, hand me your tea cup, we're going to read your tea leaves, see what tomorrow brings."

Silly old bat.



soundtrack: Doors - "People Are Strange"