Linens, Libations and Lasagna

By Lyn Widmyer ACBL Bridge Bulletin July 2015

Now that I am retired, I am spending a lot more time playing bridge. I learned the game decades ago because my mother believed knowing how to play bridge was as important to succeeding in college as good SAT scores. She adored the game. I always helped Mom prepare when it was her turn to host the bridge ladies for an extravagant lunch and an afternoon of play. My job was to iron napkins and tablecloths, wash the good crystal and polish silver.

Based on my childhood experience, I came to associate bridge with liquor, linen and lasagna. Add a few glasses of wine and/or sherry and it was amazing my mother’s bridge group was coherent enough to actually play bridge.

When my mother sent me to bridge lessons, she hoped it would help me find social success in college. I found other interests in college and put bridge on hold.

Fast forward to 1990 when I started playing bridge with a small group of ladies in Charles Town. Naomi Moses, my bridge span into the modern era of bidding, invited me to join her group for an afternoon of play. I welcomed the invitation and decided to skip breakfast to save room for a lavish lunch a la my mother. I arrived at Naomi’s home and viewed the kitchen table, adorned only by two decks of cards and a score pad. No buffet. No lasagna. No silver cutlery. The only food was a bowl of cantaloupe squares pierced with toothpicks.

I could barely hear the introductions of the other players over the rumblings of my empty stomach. These ladies were far more interested in teaching me “weak two bids”, “negative doubles” and “strong artificial 2 club opening” than feeding me.

I loved it. Unfortunately, working full-time and raising a family cut into my bridge time.

Now, freed of work and young children, I am back at the bridge table. There is quite an active group of bridge players in the area, ranging from weekly bridge games among friends to more structured, duplicate games in Martinsburg, Charles Town and Shepherdstown.

I am one of the youngest players at my regular bridge game in Shepherdstown. No matter—these ladies are sharp! Recently, my 93-year old partner (who has been married longer than I have been alive) reminded me after we failed to make our bid that the Jacoby transfer convention is still on after an interference bid by the opponent.

I nodded to give the impression I knew what she was talking about.

In Charles Town, I have played with a hero of World War II, Fred Mayer. Or as he is referred to in Wikipedia, “Frederick Mayer (spy)”. During World War II Fred parachuted into Austria, then posed as a German Army officer to learn about troop movements near Innsbruck. He was captured and tortured by the Gestapo. Fred was freed in 1945 by American troops and later awarded the Legion of Merit and a Purple Heart by the United States Government. What an honor to sit at the bridge table with an American war hero.

My mother insisted bridge would help me socially in college. That never happened but her investment in lessons is paying dividends now that I am older and retired. Playing bridge has introduced me to a wonderful new group of friends and acquaintances.

Best of all, knowing an opening bid of 2 No Trump promises 20-21 points is considered far more important than knowing how to iron linen napkins or polish silver.

I was born in Lebanon, moving to the United States in my teens. I studied computer science at Northern Illinois University and worked with computers at the school for six years. My husband and I moved back to Beirut in 2000 so he could help with the family business. We returned to the US in 2010 and I now split my time between Beirut and Bryn Mawr, PA, with regular travel to bridge tournaments.

I caught the bridge bug in my 20’s after learning the game with friends and was so smitten that I started the Bridge Academy in Beirut. It was later turned into a bridge club and often has as many as 90 tables in play.

I have more than 28 trophies from competitions around the world and just recently started playing more in the United States. I recently represented the USA in Poland and finished in eleventh place.

I was introduced to bridge around 1970. Things were very different then. Each day’s game had a different owner/director, even though they shared a common space. A bit of friendly competition inspired each director to keep improving his/her game. There were no A/B/C strats, no NLM tournaments, no Gold Rush or Mid-Flight events. Instead there were things like Mens Pairs, Womens Pairs and Mixed Pairs. The ACBL strongly discouraged playing directors by reducing the points award when a director did play.

In 1972 there was excitement leading up to the Fall Nationals in Lancaster. Each unit had a day to provide the volunteers. It was at that tournament that a met my husband. We were married a year later. Then family, house, and a full time job kept me away from bridge for nearly 30 years.

When I returned late in 2009 things even looked different. There were bidding boxes and computer scorers. In the fall of 2010 we headed to the Lancaster Regionals and things fell together nicely…I hit both 300 points and 25 gold on the same day. A month later I was diagnosed with breast cancer.

It quickly became apparent that I was going to need a safe zone away from treatment. So for a year we tried to both keep my condition quiet and arrange chemo, tests, surgeries, and radiation so that there would be one afternoon a week to get away from all that and play bridge.

I was just finishing radiation when the 2011 Lancaster Regionals rolled around. With very little in the way of expectations due to my depleted state, we again made the trip and were rewarded with a win in a two-day Knockout. The very next day I decided I was strong enough to take off the wig.

Health issues and pets still limit our travel to day trips. I have a couple more months of oral medication which has a serious impact on memory. But again this year we traveled to Lancaster for the Regional, and again Lancaster was special. I‘ve been a Penn State trained Master Gardener for nearly 20 years, so I like to say I reached the rank of ‘Silver Life Master Gardener’.

Bridge is certainly not the most important thing in life. But it can play a big role in helping us deal with the things that life throws at us.