Restoring Competence for Leisure Pursuits
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Larry had not lost his new reading glasses. He just didn't like them. He knew exactly where they were as he demonstrated by rolling back the top and gesturing toward the blurry right corner.
"Mr. Henshaw are they uncomfortable? Maybe if--"
"Nope. I'm too old to start wearing those things now."
The fabric of her jacket rustled. "So last week you mentioned the issue of reading the directions on your pill bottles?"
"John put that flexi-neck magnifying glass on the counter like you suggested. Right as rain."
When she spoke her voice sounded as if she were smiling. "Oh good, wonderful. Well you'd also mentioned the pinochle. Mrs. Henshaw had a party coming up next Saturday?"
"Yup."
"Should we play a test game? Just run through-
"Nope. Can't see the cards good enough. They'll have to run the show without me."
She shook her head no vigorously, but he could not see her expression. "Oh, actually Mr. Henshaw you won't believe the great pack my uncle found in the city last year. Before he had his cataracts out he couldn't even read the paper, but he could play rummy with those cards. Macular degeneration is different, but there's no harm in trying."
"Hmm."
Larry wasn't sure, but he thought she'd pulled a pen from her bag. "I have a deck with me. Uncle Dan tells me I'm a decent rummy player. Should we give it a try? I have a bag of MnMs. Winner takes all?"
"Hmm." He shrugged and headed toward the kitchen. "Young lady nobody's beat this old man at rummy in the last five years. I don't think you'll be getting that candy."
She laughed. "Well okay!"
The cards didn't feel worn and pleasant like his favorite decks, but they weren't bad. And they sounded right. That was always the important thing with cards, how they sounded during the shuffle and deal. These, he decided as he moved them between his hands, might actually do.
Two rounds out of three--with some rather helpful suggestions from the OT on how to move his head to the side just so without causing that crick--and the candy was his. They played another three rounds for good measure. He did his best to correct her amateur rummy strategies, though her improvements were slow. By the sixth game she seemed to be getting the hang of it. And the cards had smoothed out perfectly.
They would do.
