From Gameboys to Slot Machines!

I have read a lot of information published regarding how to keep your mind active to avoid dementia type illnesses.  There is a plethora of information available in mainstream media telling people to make sure to use your brain because it is a muscle that needs to be exercised.  Well, I am a bit confused on that topic and although I will continue to read and research for my own benefit and for my children's benefit, I can tell you, my mom exercised her brain constantly and it did no good.  She loved puzzles and always seemed to have a puzzle book or a jigsaw puzzle out on the dining room table.  My mom loved reading and belonged to several book clubs through the mail.

My mom in July 1991 in Wilkes-Barre playing her game boy!

During the '80's, when my children were born, video games became the rage! My mom jumped on the bandwagon and joined my oldest son by getting her own game boy and her own Nintendo! She had many hand held poker games too over the years, but her greatest love of all were slot machines!  My mom loved playing slot machines!

My mom traveled quite a bit with my dad, when he had to work in different countries.  After breakfast she would go out into a strange city armed with a map and her pocketbook to find slot machines! She told me stories about how she found a small village in Ireland once and there was a slot machine in a pub.  While my dad enjoyed the tasting of Irish Whiskey's, my mom played the machine.  Another time she went with my dad to Hong Kong.  While my dad was off working, she asked a local person where she could find slot machines.  Little did she know that she would be boarding a ferry to take her to a different country!  Boy was my dad angry when he came back from work to find my mom had gone all by herself to Macau! In my family, we have heard about this little escapade millions of times over the past years.

When my dad passed away in 1992, my mom was fortunate enough to find friends that traveled with her. "Ma" went to Vegas and Atlantic City.  She traveled with her Nationals team for bowling every year. Her favorite though was Foxwoods also opened in 1992. My mom started taking trips to Foxwoods to play slot machines. Recently I returned from a few days away with my husband. We usually travel to Foxwoods a couple of times a year to get away and enjoy a mini-vacation. We have learned the ins and outs of where to stay, where to eat, and how to actually save money while we are there.  I've even become pretty good at utilizing the concierge at Fox Tower to get me comps and upgrades even though we spend minimal amounts of money.

This time while there, it "hit" me as I was in a casino very late in the evening one night.  My mom loved going there and playing those machines.  She loved to go back to her room to get a snack or a drink and then go back to her machines. This time the trip was a bit sentimental for me. My mom loved the shops and she would have become one of their best outlet shoppers!  She isn't going to be able to go to Foxwoods again. But, I surely know she enjoyed the times she traveled and found slot machines.  She may not remember all of her stories about her trip to Macau or the slots she found in that tiny village in Ireland but I do. I will go visit her tomorrow and I will tell her all about my trip. I doubt she will even understand.

What I do know now is that while I cringed at hearing her Macau story over and over, I would give anything to hear it again from her.