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I have a group of guys who have been playing poker together since we were sophomores in high school. Next year will be our fiftieth year of playing together and laughing. My wife used to just sit upstairs and giggle as she listened to us in the basement in the eighties. We have about six to eight of us remaining. One of our players is dying of an auto immune disease and I had planned a game at my office for December 21st as all people will be in Illinois as some are Florida residents. Well sadly the one friend cannot play because he is now in physical therapy as he is quickly declining and gets worn out. I thought I was going to be the first to die from that game, yet I appear to be getting stronger daily.
One of my friends I met in fifth grade in a boy scout order of the arrow silent work weekend. In scouting there is something called order of the arrow. Top scouts are selected from each troop in this cool campfire ceremony where folks dressed up as native americans cross this lake to the campfire and select three or four scouts from a hundred or so who had gathered. Well the two of us were selected and we did not know each other as we were from different towns.
The idea is that you are to be dropped in the woods with a dixie cup with an egg and a slice of bacon in the cup with three matches in the middle of the night. You have to prepare a fire and cook your food because that will be all you eat for the next day which will be forced labor. You are suppose to be silent during this period. Well we both got in trouble for talking. They made us wear a stick necklace where they carved a notch for every time we took a break or talked, and told us they were going to beat us with a board for each notch......we were little chits and could care less. We made it despite some adults wanting to kick our asz.
The next level in the order of arrow required a weekend work period where again you were supposed to be silent. Well, my friend and I snuck out and walked two miles to get a banana split. It was cool until the regional director of scouting caught us and immediately put us in a creek cleaning it up as we were soaking wet and muddy all weekend. It is life time friends which you often take for granted. Each player at that table has hundreds of seaoat stories where only kids who grew up together would know. I am happy to still be here and able to play on the 21st of this month, but extremely sad that I may not be the first to die in our group. It has been so much fun over those fifty years.
One of my friends I met in fifth grade in a boy scout order of the arrow silent work weekend. In scouting there is something called order of the arrow. Top scouts are selected from each troop in this cool campfire ceremony where folks dressed up as native americans cross this lake to the campfire and select three or four scouts from a hundred or so who had gathered. Well the two of us were selected and we did not know each other as we were from different towns.
The idea is that you are to be dropped in the woods with a dixie cup with an egg and a slice of bacon in the cup with three matches in the middle of the night. You have to prepare a fire and cook your food because that will be all you eat for the next day which will be forced labor. You are suppose to be silent during this period. Well we both got in trouble for talking. They made us wear a stick necklace where they carved a notch for every time we took a break or talked, and told us they were going to beat us with a board for each notch......we were little chits and could care less. We made it despite some adults wanting to kick our asz.
The next level in the order of arrow required a weekend work period where again you were supposed to be silent. Well, my friend and I snuck out and walked two miles to get a banana split. It was cool until the regional director of scouting caught us and immediately put us in a creek cleaning it up as we were soaking wet and muddy all weekend. It is life time friends which you often take for granted. Each player at that table has hundreds of seaoat stories where only kids who grew up together would know. I am happy to still be here and able to play on the 21st of this month, but extremely sad that I may not be the first to die in our group. It has been so much fun over those fifty years.
