The Yahtzee game

"Come on, let's play Yahtzee"

"But I don't know how," she said with an uncertain and reluctant look on her face.

"It's okay, we'll teach you," I replied as I took her soft hand and lead her to the table where Honey was sitting. "See, here are the dice and we're going to each take one to see who goes first.  Wow, you rolled a five, Honey got a two, and I got a six.  I'll go first and we'll show you what to do."  and our game began slowly as we waited for the others to arrive. She look around, as if trying to find a reason not to play.  Her sister came in the door and watched. 

"Wow! You rolled FIVE 5's!!!  Why don't you roll again to see if you get a Yahtzee?" we encouraged her. She picked up the last dice and let it gently roll out of her hand...  "Wahooo!!!  Look at that!  Another five!  You got a Yahtzee on your first turn"  we cheered!

"But I don't know what to do. What do you do with these things and what is this paper for?"

 "Well, let's count these the dots on the dice and write them down. Each one of these are worth 5.  Can you count by fives with me? I asked.  "Five, ten...."  I finished counting for her and prompted her to write down her Yahtzee score (the counting by fives had nothing to do with her score, but seemed to help).

People started arriving and she looked relieved.  She didn't know who they all were, but it was the interruption she was wanting. She looked at us, as if to ask for permission. We started to pack up the game as Honey commented "This sure is a great time to stop since you're winning!  Let's go see who is here."

This last weekend, Honey and I traveled to a small family reunion for my side of the family and the conversation involved Honey, myself, and my Momma, who so patiently taught me to play Yahtzee growing up. I miss my Momma.