Trisha's in the House ~ Oct 20, 2012

Rod was fixing one of his infamous kitchen sink stir fry breakfasts with  spinach, bell peppers, red peppers, potatoes and garlic from the garden and fresh eggs from our next door neighbor. As I walked through the kitchen, he commented that the red peppers were hotter than he expected. He asked me what I thought and handed me a small piece to test. At first crunch my eyes went wide and I started waving my hands in preschooler sign language ~ too hot, too hot, too hot. He agreed to only use a few and cook them beyond redemption so there was only a little heat for flavor.

I have Trisha's Christmas Cactus in my living room on a corner shelf where it thrives back lit by two windows. I looked up from the breakfast table and noticed it had two huge salmon colored flowers. It usually doesn't start blooming for another month. I told Rod to take a look and said "Trisha's in the House". He looked at me and smiled "I knew that from the way you reacted to the peppers" remembering her distaste for really hot food groups.

My cousin Gordie taught me a card game called Idiot's Delight. You turn up one card at a time, always playing with the last four cards showing. If the 1st and 4th cards are same suit you can remove the two cards in between. If the 1st and 4th cards are the same you can remove all four cards. The object is have no cards at the end of the game. It took me 18 years to win my first game. On one of our road trips I taught Trisha how to play. It took her exactly three tries to win her first.

My last conversation with her in November 2010 was about our plans for Thanksgiving and her birthday. After we had gotten off the phone I realized I had forgotten to tell her I had won a game of Idiot's Delight the night before (probably the 4th time in 20 years), so I called her back. We had a great laugh and she told me I'd have to school her again, it'd been awhile since she'd played. Little did I know...

Rod and I play cribbage with breakfast every morning. Sometimes when he's pondering a move at great lengths I'll pick up the deck, shuffle and start a game of Idiot's Delight. Holy crap! It took me a second to comprehend the fact that I had won a game, the first since 2010. I screamed "I won, I won, I won" and whooped loudly. Rod gave me a double high five and we burst out laughing.

Trisha was indeed "in the house" this morning. I will forever miss the girl, but I know she's always with the posse. Celebrate life and the ones you love ~ kindred spirits will always be at our sides.