You Have to Concentrate, Daddy

As I have said before, my dad was not a stupid person. He had an I.Q. over 140. All of his children were blessed (?) with high I.Q.s, and two actually scored higher. (Guess who one was? grin) He read extensively about American and natural history. He understood a lot about a lot of things. His faults, as I recall them, were the demons from his youth which tormented him to his dying day, and his propensity to come to judgement too quickly. But overall, he was a fun dad.

Dad was a truck driver, from before I was born until he died on January 4, 1974. In the early years this meant he was home all winter, when the trucks didn't haul so often. In warm weather he would be gone three days out of four. But when he was home, he loved to play games with his children.

We played a lot of card games. Hearts and Spades were most common. Dad was good at cards, and he played to win at all times. (He was a fantastic cribbage player.) He gave no quarter. (We didn't play for money. grin) If he could, he would humiliate you. I still recall when, playing Hearts, Gayanne miscalculated and tried to 'shoot the moon'. Everyone thought she had done it. Except Dad. He had very quietly taken a single heart early on. When the points were counted and Gayanne realized that instead of giving everyone else 26 points she would get 25, everyone laughed. Gayanne was visibly crushed - which didn't happen often. Gayanne was probably the proudest of Dad's children and just refused to let anyone see they had bested her. Dad was not pleased she was crushed, but at the same time he told her to 'let that be a lesson to you'. He said that all the time. Even when there was no lesson to be learned. It was funny, actually. Except to Gayanne on that day.

Dad was also good at the television game shows which required knowledge. His favorite was Jeopardy, although he wasn't good in every category. Modern music? Art? Hollywood stars? Forget it. History. Bible (this one surprised me). Nature. Math. He nailed every one. We bought one of the home versions and the only hope of beating him was that he wouldn't get a category he knew.

There was another game which was popular in the 1960s which I don't think is on anymore. Concentration. I think it was hosted by Hugh Downs. Dad liked to watch it. Basically, it was the old Memory game. The premise was this:


(I remembered I once found Daddy's graduation picture on the internet. This is what he looked like when he was seventeen.)

A giant game board would be put on a wall. It had thirty squares on it: five across and six down (or the other way around). Contestants would take turns picking two numbers. Behind each number was a prize. If the prizes matched, the contestant would have that prize placed in their win bucket. (There were two Wild Cards, too, which created instant matches.) Then the squares would be turned to reveal a portion of a puzzle, which represented a well-known phrase. For example: Y + [picture of an oar] + [picture of campfire] + D. This would translate to, "You're Fired". The first person to correctly identify the puzzle's message would win the game - and their prizes. Whoopee.

We bought the home version of this game, too.

Now regarding memory, Dad was the best. If you made a mistake and revealed the location of a prize which had been seen before, Dad would pounce on it when his turn came. He could navigate a puzzle board better than anyone I knew. Unfortunately for Dad, puzzles mixed with pictures was foreign to his mind. He couldn't do it.

I still remember when Judayl and I were playing with him. I was acting as Master of Ceremonies and Judayl was competing against Dad. Judayl hardly matched anything. All she managed to do was show Dad where the prizes were so he could snatch them up. And he did. When two-thirds of the puzzle had been revealed Judayl knew what it was. Dad didn't. But it was Dad's turn. Judayl had to wait until Dad mucked up. And then she had to make a match in order to win. Dad made a match. Only eight spaces covered. Could he guess the picture? No. Another match. Now only six spaces covered. Could he guess the picture now? No. Judayl and I were laughing. Another match. No guess. More laughter. Another match. No clue. Frightful laughter. Only two squares left. He matched them. Now the entire puzzle was revealed. Could Dad reveal the puzzle now? No. Judayl and I fell off our chairs laughing. Dad was not happy. I don't think he ever played Concentration again. Had Gayanne been there I think she would have been pleased.

Dad drank and smoked himself to death. His demons ultimatly got the best of him. For that reason, some discredit his memory - including a couple of his children. Maybe they are right. I guess I have no right to say. But while I can acknowledge the things he did which were wrong, I can't forget the wonderful things he did right - such as play games with his children.

I love my dad. I love his memory. Long ago I made a request of God. When it comes my time to go to heaven (yeah, I believe God has forgiven me and will accept me into his home), can the first person I meet be Daddy? I miss him, and I wish I could have made him proud. I wish he could have met my son, his grandson. Some day I believe we will be together again, and perhaps we will play games again. If we do, I am almost certain Concentration will not be one of them.

Merry Christmas, Daddy.