Memories of Family Game Night Help Keep Me Sane in Prison
We all hold on to whatever we can in a place like this.
I didn’t grow up with Family Game Night. I’m ashamed to admit today that as a kid, I probably would have laughed at the idea — and I know I would have laughed at anyone who participated. Not because it’s not a good one, but because I was raised to mock anything I didn’t have. I had “family”, but there’s no way in hell we would have ever sat around a table and played board games.
Demeter told me about our friend, Thomas Ott writing a story recently about family game night. He was talking about Sequence, one of my all-time favorite games, and learning of Family Game Night from a friend of his when he and his partner first got married.
When Demeter and I first got together, one of the things we really enjoyed doing was sitting up in our kitchen and playing cards. Eventually, I felt comfortable enough to admit to her how much I enjoyed board games.
Why was this something I needed to be comfortable to admit?
Because growing up, playing board games, which should have been a family occurrence, was something I was taught was “girlie” behavior — not manly at all. I know how ignorant this sounds now, but when it’s all you know, and it’s literally been beaten into…
