The day after the "salami" warning, as our precious preschoolers at the child development center called it, could have been dubbed "sleepy Saturday" as all the kids were showing the effects of staying up until 1 am or later due to the evacuation the night before. In fact, my son's first grade class actually asked to take a nap, so after lunch, the teacher brought in blankets and a movie, and they rested for the remainder of the afternoon. I was dead to the world within a few minutes of hitting the sack myself, although a lengthy game of "Risk" kept me up later than I ever would have expected to be able to manage in my exhausted state. We bought the game at the end of last weekend because my oldest had been talking about this "cool" game that he learned about at a friend's house. My fiance and I were just so excited and glad that he wanted to do something other than play a video game, that we decided to purchase this classic, but recently updated and revived board game. I never imagined I would enjoy it as much as I did. It's basically a game of strategy for two to six players. According to what has become my go to general research site, wikipedia, "The standard version is played on a board depicting a political map of the Earth, divided into forty-two territories, which are grouped into six continents. The primary object of the game is 'world domination' or to occupy every territory on the board and in so doing, eliminate all other players. Players control armies with which they attempt to capture territories from other players with results determined by dice rolls." There were several exciting moments where each one of us was in the lead, but my sweetheart ended up meeting 3 major objectives, taking over a good portion of the world, and eliminating both my son and I from the game.
This family game night once again brings me back to the familiar conclusion that the same games, activities, and events of life that brought families together years ago still bring them together today. I love how we can see tremendous increasing in the abilities of our technology, in our abilities to prolong and save lives, and in our abilities to travel and learn more about the world due to how small and connected we are all becoming through media, but in the end, I love most the fact that families are still the same, that the kind of fun we have together hasn't changed, that faith is still grounded in stories and miracles from one of the oldest inhabited parts of the world, that love and the pursuit of peace and happiness itself is no different, that as humans we still want the same things and basically find them in the same places they've always been. None of the technology, medical advances, travel and increased volumes of information or media influences changes the basic needs of the human heart and mind and how we go about meeting those needs. Game night with my family, a home cooked meal with old friends, and attending a hockey game with my fiance will always be rich sources of joy for me and provide bonding experiences I'll always treasure. So, as sleepy Saturday came to a close, it was met with joy in the midst of exhaustion, joy for the simple, constant things in life that mean so much!
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