I started playing bridge at the age of 6. My parents and 16-year-old brother needed a fourth and I was it! My mother was a Life Master in Pittsburgh. I played bridge throughout college and medical school, but never competitively. I stopped playing completely from age 25-70 while we were raising a family and while I was involved in my cardiology practice in Lawrenceville NJ. We moved to a 55+ community in Langhorne and I started playing in the clubhouse one afternoon a week. That’s where I met Mark Hedson, who was already a Life Master. Although he is 10 years younger than me, he “adopted” me and asked if I was interested in playing at bridge clubs and learning bidding conventions and defensive strategies. I agreed. We started playing at Dotties in Warminster and routinely finished in the bottom third. But I persevered and gradually we became a very competitive team. When Barbara Patterson started AMI Bridge Club in Langhorne, she served an area that had been long ignored in the northern Philadelphia suburbs. This allowed us to play twice a week without having to travel a distance. In addition, we would play one or two days in the yearly regional at Valley Forge. My high point was at the 2018 regional when Art Frank and his partner from Ohio, Ron Woofter, asked Mark and I to partner in the 2 day KO. Here I was, with 300 or so points, playing with partners with well over a thousand and opponents with even more. We came in 2nd for 9+ gold points! Bridge has been a wonderful outlet for me in my retirement years.

You know, sometimes we meet people at different stages of our lives that have a profound influence. Mark Hedson was one of those. He was never embarrassed when we would get 43%. He introduced me to 2/1, NMF, Cappelletti, Drury, Smolen, Michaels, RKC, Inverted Minors, unusual NT, etc. Each step along the way, he was concerned that my age would keep me from keeping everything straight in my mind. Boy, did I surprise him! I would never have gotten into duplicate bridge if it had not been for him. He has been my mentor and support. I also remember when Barbara started her game. She would get 4 1/2 or 5 tables. She has been such a positive influence in the Yardley-Langhorne area.