DAY FIVE

I am thankful for board games.

Last night Jimmy and I played three rounds of Uno and for the record, I won. I find that we spend quite a bit of time playing board games and I am so thankful we have them to enjoy. I know the mere mention of board games as something I am thankful for may raise some eyebrows, however let me explain myself.

Board games represent so much more than the object of the game and the game pieces they contain. They represent togetherness. They represent intentionality in spending time with someone you love. They represent simpler times when TV and the Internet weren’t so distracting. They afford the opportunity to laugh…the kind of laugh that hurts your abs but you totally don’t want to stop. And for me, they always represent wonderful memories with family and friends.

When I really think about it, I suppose board games have been an integral part of my adult life. For starters, Jimmy and I feel in love over Yahtzee and Uno when we were dating. I remember he would come over to the Kappa house and we would play games together in the dining room while we sipped our Classic 50’s beverages. We would laugh for hours on end as one of us always seemed to dominate the other’s performance. I suppose we could have been out doing much cooler things together, however this quality time together gave us the opportunity to know one another on a deeper level. I am also so grateful for the innocence that board games helped Jimmy and I establish while dating.


We also told my parents we were pregnant with Pearce over a game of CLUE. Beth and Blake already knew we were expecting so they helped us devise a perfect scheme to announce our news. We staged the game so that my mom or dad would win the game, and in the “confidential” envelope, we placed three cards reading: 1. Brooke and Jimmy 2. Are 3. Pregnant. I will never forget the look on my mother’s face as she read the cards out loud. Those pictures are some of my favorites to this day.

And I am so grateful for the laughter and memories made while playing board games with my sisters and brothers in law. Seriously, when we are all home together one of the first items of business is to establish set game nights. We all get into our PJ’s, pop some popcorn and get started playing. My parents usually sit in the adjacent living room and relish in the joy and laughter they hear coming from the dining room table. I suppose that is what every parent hopes for: a day when their children truly enjoy being together. As the night continues, we chow down on cookies and candy, while sipping beer until the wee hours of the morning. For months we will recall the hysteria and laughter that those game nights produced. And win or lose, we all walk away with a funny story to think back on one day. I am so thankful for board games, because without them, we might have missed out on a number of memories and opportunities for laughter.


Lord thank you for blessing our home with laughter and for the joy we find in playing these simple games together.