A Happy Day

A Happy day
Anyone who's ever played games with my husband knows what a competitive player he is. I love to play games with Kyle, because he really gets into the game. He is smart and catches onto games quickly. He's good at it, and he often wins.
Case in point: One of the reasons I know I fell in love with him was because he caught on so quickly to our long-time Bassett-honored tradition of Texas 42. I learned this game when I was a teenager. After we moved to Texas, someone told our family we just couldn't be Texans until we learned this game. We, as a Bassett family are big game players, and this game, played with dominoes, really caught our fancy. We learned how to play it together and we played often. You could hear laughter and the clinking of dominoes on the dining room table many nights into the early hours of the morning.
When I started dating Kyle, it soon became apparent that he was going to have to learn Texas 42 if he wanted to be accepted by my younger brothers and sisters. He passed with flying colors. He learned the game quickly. In his own competitive way, he could stand against the best of the Bassetts. We very quickly learned, however, that although he loved playing for the thrill of the game, he also loved to win.
We are game players, and over the years of our marriage we have played many games. I love watching Kyle, because if he's losing, it's almost guaranteed that he will want to keep playing until it's either impossible to take the lead or he wins. Dee and I remember one night early in our marriage with fondness. Kyle was losing at a particular game. The time was moving past midnight...past 1 AM...past 2 AM. We were getting so bleary-eyed that we tried to lose the game so that Kyle could win. No matter what we did, we kept winning and Kyle would want to keep playing. Finally we succeeded! Kyle took the lead and we were able to go to bed.
Now I have to admit that I also love to play games, and yes, I am pretty competitive as well. I do love a good win. However, I enjoy playing as much for the sake of playing with loved ones and friends as I do winning. I enjoy the laughter, the comradery, the quips and the fun of sitting around a table sharing each others' lives.
That is why yesterday was such a happy day for us. We enjoyed a good movie, a good dinner, and then played some Boot and Bonnet together. The best part of the night was that the point tally was very close, and in the end, it came down to the last round before we knew who would win. Then blessed day! Kyle won!! Yes, it was a very happy day!!