My View

I was thinking just now of board games. For months I've been meaning to stop by Target and pick up some UNO cards to donate to On Our Own. I don't know why I never got there when the weather was nicer. It's a 20min roll in the chair or a quick bus ride. I even went to another store right there once and forgot. Well last weekend friends of mine were driving there so I tagged along. Now I just have to remember to bring them. I also ended up buying Farkle, a dice game I've become addicted to playing in its online form. UNO is theirs, Farkle is on along term loan, meaning I can take it back whenever I feel like.

Anyway, so I was thinking of board games and my mind wandered to SNATCH, a game I haven't played in years. People would like it if I even knew where it was, remembered how to play. My mind wandered to bringing it in, people asking where I got a game no one's ever heard of. "I got it in a game store in Mall of America. I forget when. One of the times I was there, 1999 or 2002. I think 2002."

One of the times??? People look perplexed always when I tell them I've been there 6 times. Ever play the ice breaker game 2 truths and a lie, where just like it sounds, you go around telling 2 truths and a lie and people have to guess what the lie is? Some standards, I've been to Mall of America 6 times, I grew almost 2in in 7hrs (from surgery, but I leave that part out), and when I was younger I wanted to be a figherfighter (someone once thought that was true). The Mall of America is in Minnesota, and remember I live in Maryland. That's 2/3rds of the way across the country. Who would go there 6 times? It's a mall (with a tiny amusement park and an aquarium inside). My orthopedist was at Gillette. I had 4 surgeries there, and went for 2 just visits. I will always hold a soft spot in my heart for that hospital as odd as that sounds.

Every time we went we spent some time at the mall. My surgeries were always on Tuesdays so I could be scheduled for appointments, xrays, etc on Monday and we always scheduled Sat flights just in case. We had time to kill on Sunday, so we went to the mall. The first time we went to Gillette we tacked a few extra days onto the trip to do some sightseeing. We ended up just seeing the mall, spending 20hrs there over 3 days. My grandma has to touch everything... Eventually we got it down to just 6hrs in one day, hitting up must sees like the Italian restaurant Tucci Benucch (MMMMMMM........) In all those trips I've never been to the aquarium. We always saved it for if we have time, and the people who actually walked the mall got worn out.

My view is if you have to have surgery you might as well have some fun in there too. It's possible to do both, even in a hospital where there are therapy dogs and playrooms to balance out the pain. And a great cookie store at the mall :-) Is it wrong to on some level look forward to going for surgery? I think not. I think that's the way it should be.