Rows of Dimes

My neighborhood has some pretty cool people in it.

In just under a year since we moved into the house, I've been basically adopted by my next door neighbors. Now they've become extended family.

In the summer, we hang out in our backyards and share drinks as we sit around our respective fire pits and tell stories.

In the winter, we see less of each other, but we keep in touch through a weekly game of Sheepshead.

I'm not very good, but I enjoy the company. We have homemade pie and venison jerky and there's a lot of good-natured teasing that goes on, many times at my expense because I forgot to follow suit or can't seem to remember who's partnered with whom.

We play for dimes so there's a bottle with my initials on it that stays at the neighbors' house.

It mysteriously never gets any emptier, even when I lose my a**.

I'm pretty sure they refill it for me between games.

Everyone lines their dimes in rows of three in front of them on the table (three is the most dimes you'd ever have to pay out in one hand).

At our last game, I was holding my own pretty well. I looked down at the many rows of dimes in front of me.

And I thought about how that row of dimes is a lot like my life.

Sometimes there are multiple rows and I'm confident that I have enough to last the duration.

Other times, I watch my rows of dimes get smaller and smaller and I fear that I may be out of the game before I'm ready.

In real life, I don't have anyone filling my bottle between games. It's up to me to keep it full.

And in real life too, I don't always remember to follow suit. I screw up and make bad choices. I fail my children on a regular basis because I'm human and my emotions get the best of me.

Some days I just want to scream and throw the whole damn bottle of dimes against the wall.

Other days, I go to bed with a smile on my face because the dimes are nice and neat and in order.

It's a roller coaster ride for sure.

No matter how many literal or figurative rows of dimes I have in front of me, I keep moving forward and playing the game.

Because that's the only direction that matters.

I don't want to go back to where I came from, and I certainly am not about to give up.

In a world filled with technology where the majority of human interaction seems to behind a screen or device, I'm grateful to have an old school way of connecting with real people.

There are days when it feels like life is just too much, but when I sit down to write this blog and I reflect on the events of my week, I weed through the mess and find the things that make me happy, that really matter. And this is one of them.

How many rows of dimes do you have on your table in front of you?

Take the time to sit down and count them.

And along the way, count your blessings too.

I'll bet you there are more of them than you realize.