My husband and I retired from the investment business in Manhattan and moved to Philadelphia 30 years ago.  We raised our family here, and built an active life.

As we aged, we wanted to have an activity that we enjoyed together.  Bridge fit that bill.  We both played a bit in college and only sporadically afterward, since work and then family monopolized our time.  We began to focus on playing together right before the Pandemic and then everything shut down.  We don’t play on-line, so we had to wait until in-person play began again, using bridge solitaire programs to keep our new skills fresh.  Once face-to-face began, we dove in playing 2-3 times per week.  Little by little our point count built.  I had played sanctioned games occasionally so I had a few more points than my husband, and have reached the NABC Master Level first.  My husband is not far behind.

We both love the game and the continuing challenge it provides.  We wake in the morning and sometimes say, “Good Morning! If I bid a Heart, and you bid a Spade…” Our next goal is Life Masters but at 74 and 85 years of age, we can only hope!

I spend a lot of time thinking about bridge and feel as if I’m slowly but surely inching closer to a deeper understanding of the game. I am not, however, a naturally gifted bridge player. I’ve been remiss in recognizing some of my weaknesses, and for sure I’ve repeated the same mistakes too often. But the positive flip side may be that I’m persistent. Every game and every post mortem helps in some way to move me along to better bridge.

I am grateful to teachers Joann Glasson, Kevin Wilson, and Beth Rosenthal and to all the people over the last several years I’ve been lucky enough to call regular partners: George Marcy, Harold Koehler, Ellen Preece, Linda Blickman, and Beth Dimler. There are so many generous and talented players who have answered my questions, given me encouragement, or recommended a resource. It takes a village to help aspiring players grow, and I’ve been helped immeasurably by the bridge communities in Unit 120 and the King of Prussia Bridge Club. I will always be especially grateful to my friends from Northeastern PA who helped get me over the LM finish line in Fairfield, NJ: Harold Koehler, Vicki Tarleton, and Jim Post. It feels very good to have met what for me has always been the first big milestone. So much more to learn, and I am super happy to be on the journey.