Hand & Foot

Friday November 20, 1992

Frank is up early to make another cheesecake so he can take two to the potluck dinner at Pat and Jack's house tonight. I'm slow in the morning as usual but feel pretty good in the p.m. I read and dust the living room.

I call Roz in Palmdale. We talk over an hour. She has many complaints about their Mexican cruise to Mexico on Princess last week. Poor food and cabin service etc. Too bad, probably their first and last. Her bladder still falls out. She's new doing Kegel exercises.

Forty of our friends from square dancing show up for the card party/potluck. It's great! My partner Fred and I do very well as we play Hand and Foot. We have a great time and I'm tired when we leave at 10 p.m.

Roz was one of Mom's co-workers before she retired. Poor woman, I have never heard of a bladder falling out! I have never been on a cruise before, but always imagined if I did it would be wonderful. I don't know if Roz was a complainer or if the cruise really was horrid. I would never go to Mexico for my first cruise, but would like to try going to Alaska on a cruise ship some day. We have been to Alaska 3 times more than 10 years ago, but never on a cruise. I would love to take a cruise that goes into Glacier Bay someday.

I had never heard of the game Hand & Foot, so googled it and found they actually have a website called hand8foot. Here are the rules of the game from their website:

The aim is to get rid of cards from your hand (11 cards), and then from your foot (11 cards), by melding them. A Meld is a set of three to seven cards of equal rank placed face up on the table. A Meld cannot have fewer than three cards.

After a Meld of three or more cards has been started, you can add further cards to it until there are seven. Then it becomes a Book. You can meld cards of any rank from A, K, Q, … down to 3.

Deuces (twos) and Jokers are wild cards and can be used in melds, as long as there is at least one more real card than wild cards. You can not meld wild cards alone.

There are two types of melds:

A Clean(Natural) Meld has no wild cards and may become a Red Book.
A Dirty(Wild) Meld has wild cards and may become a Black Book.
A Meld of seven cards is complete and is called a Book.

Sounds like fun. Have you ever played?

I Walk A Mile

Friday September 11, 1992

We sleep in. Frank and I walk 1 mile for my first day back to walking. I do fine. Not too tired. Frank later takes his 4-mile walk alone while I get cleaned up.

I spend most of the day reading all the old newspapers. We have dinner. Then I get a phone call from Roz. She tells me Gail, my old working companion, has died. She was bleeding internally and wouldn't go to the doctor. When she did she died 15 hours later. I'm in shock. She was like a daughter to me. She was 41 and left a 9-year-old daughter. I still can't believe it. I call and talk to her husband, Jim. It's so sad.

Wow, first my coworker Sharon passes away, and now Mom's coworker Gail. Sharon was 55 and lived a full life, but Gail was so young. Her daughter must have been devastated.

Roz & Richard

Friday January 31, 1992

Up early and rush to get the yard and house clean. Roz and Richard are coming for lunch. Roz and I worked together for 11 years at Guardian (Medical Equipment). She's 62. Her husband of 5 years is 56. They wanted to see all our vacation pictures. We spent most of the day doing that. We all went out to dinner about 8 p.m. They stayed until midnight.

It's sort of sad. They have no friends and no contact at all with his grown children or his many brothers and sisters. I think it's because Roz likes it that way. They spend alot on their home but never take vacations though they can well afford it. Reason may be Roz has been 70-80 pounds overweight for years. Now she's only 20 pounds overweight and she feels more like going places and doing things. We enjoy visiting with them.

I never met Roz and Richard and have no photos of them. It sounds like Mom is Roz' only friend. That is so special that Mom made such a point of keeping in contact after she retired. I cannot imagine why 70-80 extra pounds would keep Roz from seeing family and friends as well as taking any vacations. While I might not feel comfortable wearing a bikini on the beach, my extra pounds have never stopped me from taking a vacation. How sad!