Jacks

This is a charming memory written by Calamity that I’d like to share.

It may be unusual for a blogger to feature a guest author, but the story, memories and the people need to be remembered. Besides, the name of this blog is “In The Day” NOT “In MY Day”.

Please enjoy!

“Jacks”

A memory from “Calamity”

I wandered into a little boutique this afternoon. They had some little shoes in the window on sale; the kind with little bows and sparkles that a three year old just like my granddaughter would love. They didn’t have her size. But what they did have was a box of old fashioned, metal jacks. I picked them up and smiled, and a warm feeling memory overcame me.

I was in elementary school, about 5^th or 6^th grade. I had received a set of jacks at a birthday party and brought them home. I sort of knew what to do with them and spent about 20 frustrating minutes chasing a little pink ball around the room. Finally I decided that “jacks” was a pretty stupid game. And then Mom came into the room.

My Mom was a smallish woman, a little heavy, and was never athletic due to having polio as a child. She used to tell us stories about her sisters teasing her about her braces and running away when they were walking to school. Mom would never be athletic. No running games, or hiding games, or games that required a lot of physical exertion. But apparently, Mom made up for her lack of physical ability with a proficiency for other games. And “jacks” was her forte!

Mom sat down on the floor with me. She asked if I would like her to show me how to play. I smiled knowing that she probably couldn’t show me much, and nodded. Mom threw the jacks. She tossed the ball and picked up the jacks, one at a time, catching the ball after the first bounce each time. Then two at a time, three at a time, four, fivesies, sixsies, and on through tensies . . . without missing once!

I was astounded! And now Mom smiled . . .

I learned to play jacks that summer and showed my friends. We spent the summer sitting on the linoleum floor, which was the coolest place in an un-air conditioned house, and learned all the games. It seemed that whenever we mastered one game, Mom had another to teach us. We learned: “chickens in the coop”, “pigs over the fence”, “around the world”, “no bounce”, “flying Dutchman” and “eggs in the basket”.

Over the years the jacks became light in weight, made out of tin or aluminum. I have my original set, but the balls rotted out years ago. I wonder if I bought a set of heavy jacks for my granddaughter, she would someday want to know how to play. I wonder if I can remember as well as my Mom, after 40 years.

I’ll bet she could still play, if she were here, and show us all a thing or two at that.