About 10 years ago, give or take a few, we started playing again and found another novice pair who were interested in playing team games. So we played and had a lot of fun and some success.  We played mostly for going out to dinner together after the games.  Slowly we began to accumulate master points.  When we saw who we were playing against, we would look at each other and say, with awe, “Most of the players on that team are LIFE MASTERS.”

But we persevered, took lessons, played and went to tournaments.  Eventually we all became life masters at about the same time.  What I remember is feeling that I had reached the highest level that I was ever going to achieve.  Becoming a silver life master seemed completely out of reach.  But after we reached life master status and continued to play, the points seemed to come in almost of their own accord.  After a few more years, I thought that maybe, just maybe, I could actually reach silver life master rank.  And now that I have done so, I am looking forward to reaching the next rank.

I play for fun and for dinners after team events and to travel to the places that the regional and national tournaments are held.  Reaching the next rank has never been my principal motivation but it is, nevertheless, very pleasant to do so.