about rebecca
a short history of rebecca and scrabble
One christmas long ago (1981) Rebecca received two Scrabble boards; one from her grandmother and another from her father. She played by herself and mostly with her father. When she visited her step-mother's family on the weekends Scrabble games went on at the kitchen table after dinner was cleared.
She went away to college in Alaska and met a group of women and men who loved to play as much as she did. Only, they used trademarked words and proper nouns like OREO and allowed curse words, too. Each morning after breakfast they met in their dorm's common room and played at least a game or two. Mark always stole tiles. He was from Arkansas. They called him Markansas. After a game or two those Scrabble playin' fools went to class. Oftentimes, they did not. They stayed and played. One of them stole tiles. Then after dinner the friends met and played few more rounds before hitting the bars. The semester ended. Rebecca returned home, and never found others who loved Scrabble as much as she. Until Kelly came along.
She met Ian. On their second or third date she invited him upstairs to play Scrabble. They played four games. She won them all. But, he was a graceful loser, and with each game his score increased. They played until 2 a.m. He had to be at work by 6 a.m. They played throughout their courtship and sometimes he won. She didn't let him. They married, eventually.
Kelly and Rebecca met through Ross, Kelly's husband and a library colleague of Rebecca's. Rebecca and Ian brought her Deluxe edition Scrabble board over to Kelly & Ross's one night for post-dinner fun. That was the first time Kelly played. Rebecca was shocked that Kelly had never played. She caught on quickly. And Kelly loved the game so much that she found an online forum and played and played throughout the days in her spare time. She learned so many tricks and skills and strategies that now her scores are incredibly high. She beats Rebecca and Ross and Ian.
Rebecca picked up a few of Kelly's tricks, but lacks Kelly's competitive drive. Still, Ian will not play Scrabble with her anymore. He complains that she always wins. It's been a very long time since Rebecca played. Maybe last summer when Kelly was home…. maybe that was the last taste of the game she had.
Rebecca blogs: readingroom, potlikker, & bekka
