I wrote these stories years before artificial intelligence became my writing companion. Today, at 91 nearing 92, I am revisiting some of them not to change my memories, but to see what I understand differently after another decade of living.
I wrote these stories years before artificial intelligence became my writing companion. Today, at 91 nearing 92, I am revisiting some of them not to change my memories, but to see what I understand differently after another decade of living.
Bridge Is My Card Game and Mahjong Is My Tile Game: What Two Games Have Taught Me About Life- An Update
From the Philippines to THD, two lifelong games have given me friendship, mental exercise, patience, and many wonderful memories
I have played many games during my 91 years, but two have stayed with me through most of my life:
Bridge is my card game. Mahjong is my tile game.
Both are more than games to me. They are part of my life story.
They have followed me from my childhood in the Philippines, through my married years with Macrine, into my years in America, and now into my life at The Heritage Downtown (THD).
Looking back, I realize that these games have given me something more valuable than winning.
They have given me friendship, companionship, mental stimulation, laughter, patience, and memories.
Bridge and Macrine
My love affair with bridge really began during my married life with Macrine.
In the 1970s, while we were living in Modesto, California, Macrine and I played party bridge at the Sportsmen's Club of Stanislaus County. We met many wonderful people through the game and enjoyed some very happy evenings together.
Later, after we moved to the San Francisco Bay Area, we played duplicate bridge at the El Cerrito Bridge Club. We eventually became members of the American Contract Bridge League in 1984.
Bridge became one of our social activities as a couple. It was not simply about the cards.
We talked. We laughed. We met people. We learned to cooperate.
And, occasionally, we blamed the cards!
Macrine and I eventually stopped playing bridge when we moved to the Washington, D.C., area in the 1990s. We became busy with our careers, family, and Filipino-American community activities.
But bridge never really left me.
What makes bridge different?
For those unfamiliar with the game, bridge is played by four people in two partnerships.
The cards you receive matter, but the cards are only part of the story.
You must communicate with your partner through bidding.
You must remember what has already been played.
You must observe your opponents. You must make decisions with incomplete information.
And you must learn to work with your partner. That last part may be the most important.
Bridge is a partnership game. You can have a wonderful hand and still lose.
You can have a poor hand and still play it beautifully.
Sometimes you win because of skill. Sometimes because of luck.
And sometimes because your opponents make a mistake! That sounds a little like life.
Bridge is a lesson in partnership
Over the years I have learned that a good bridge partnership requires qualities that are also important in marriage and friendship:
Communication. Trust. Patience. Listening. Planning. Humility.
You cannot control the cards you are dealt. You can only control how you play them.
That is one of the reasons I still enjoy bridge.
At 91, I have learned that life is also about playing the hand we are given as wisely as possible.
We don't always get the cards we want. But we can still try to make the best of them.
Duplicate bridge adds another dimension
I particularly enjoy duplicate bridge because everyone plays the same hands.
That means luck is reduced somewhat.
If another pair receives exactly the same cards that you received, the question becomes:
What did they do with those cards? This makes duplicate bridge fascinating.
You are not simply competing against the cards. You are comparing decisions.
And that is where the mental challenge begins.
It reminds me of my scientific career. In science, we also work with information, evidence, probabilities, and uncertainty. We make the best decision we can based on what we know.
Bridge is obviously not science. But it does require a scientific habit of mind:
Observe. Think. Analyze. Decide. Learn from the result.
Mahjong takes me back to my childhood
Playing Mahjong with Family During Alix Wedding Reception Party
If bridge connects me to my adult life, mahjong takes me back to my childhood in the Philippines.
I learned to play mahjong when I was a young boy. My mother taught me and my brothers and sisters how to play.
I remember our family having two mahjong sets. One was an inexpensive plastic set that we used regularly. The other was a much more valuable set that was reserved for special occasions such as birthdays and weddings.
Those memories take me back to Barotac Viejo, Iloilo.
Mahjong was part of Filipino family and neighborhood life.
For me, it was also a wonderful way to spend those long, hot Philippine afternoons.
The game uses tiles rather than cards, and there are many variations in the way mahjong is played in different countries and communities.
That is something I have always found interesting.
A game can travel from one culture to another and become part of local life while retaining its basic identity.
Bridge and mahjong are very different
Although I love both games, they exercise different parts of my thinking.
Bridge depends heavily on partnership, communication, memory, bidding, logic and strategy.
Mahjong, at least the way I learned and played it, has a greater element of luck, combined with observation, memory and decision-making.
That difference is part of the fun. In bridge, I am often thinking: What does my partner's bid mean?
In mahjong, I may be thinking: What tile do I need and what tile is my opponent waiting for?
Both games require concentration. Both require memory.
And both require me to pay attention. At 91, I consider that a good thing.
Now I play both at THD
When I moved into The Heritage Downtown in Walnut Creek in 2023, I discovered something wonderful.
I had found a community where people still wanted to play. Bridge and mahjong became part of my new life.
I have played bridge several times a week at THD, and we have a regular group that plays party bridge almost each day of the week, even sometimes on weekends. I have also enjoyed playing mahjong with my fellow residents.
Over time, some of the people I play with have become friends.
That is one of the hidden benefits of games.
You sit down at a table with three people you may not know very well.
A few hours later, you know something about them.
You laugh together. You tease one another. You occasionally disagree about a bid or a tile.
And eventually, you become friends. The game becomes a doorway to friendship.
I have also learned something about aging
There is a tendency in society to think of aging mainly in terms of what we lose.
We lose some physical strength. We may walk more slowly.
We may not remember names as quickly as we once did.
We may need a little more help. But there is another side to growing older.
We have accumulated experiences. We have stories. We have memories.
And we can continue learning. That is why I believe activities such as bridge and mahjong are valuable for older adults.
They give us something to look forward to. They keep us socially connected.
They require concentration. And, perhaps most importantly, they give us a reason to sit around a table with other human beings.
At 91, I don't play these games because I am trying to prove that my brain is still young.
I play because I enjoy them. That is enough.
Games are better when there is no money involved
I should add one important point. I enjoy bridge and mahjong primarily as social games, not as gambling. But on Mondays and Fridays, each player put a dollar in the pot.
There is nothing wrong with friendly competition.
But I have seen how gambling can change the nature of a game.
When money becomes the main objective, the enjoyment can disappear.
For me, the real prize is not money. It is the conversation.The laughter. The challenge.
The friendships. And the satisfaction of making a good decision and perhaps winning.
What bridge and mahjong have taught me
After many decades of playing both games, I think they have taught me several lessons about life.
1. You cannot choose every hand you receive. Life deals us circumstances we did not choose. What matters is what we do with them.
2. Partnership matters. Whether in bridge, marriage, family or friendship, we rarely succeed entirely by ourselves.
3. Patience is a skill. Sometimes the best decision is to wait.
4. Luck matters, but preparation matters too. We cannot control everything. But we can prepare ourselves to take advantage of a good opportunity when it appears.
5. Losing is part of the game. You will lose hands. You will make mistakes. You will sometimes wonder how you could possibly have played that card! Then you shuffle the cards and play again. Life is much the same.
6. Never stop learning. After decades of playing bridge, I am still learning. That may be one of the greatest gifts of the game.
From a Filipino boy to a 91-year-old American
Sometimes I find it amazing when I think about my journey.
The little boy who learned mahjong in the Philippines could never have imagined that one day he would earn a PhD in America, work as a scientist and regulator at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, raise a family, become a grandfather and great-grandfather, and eventually spend his retirement years playing bridge and mahjong with friends in a senior community.
Life certainly dealt me an interesting hand. And I am grateful for the cards.
Not all of them were good. There were difficult cards. There were unexpected cards.
There were heartbreaking cards. But there were also beautiful ones.
Macrine was one of the greatest cards life ever dealt me.
Our children and grandchildren are another. My career in science and public service was another. My Filipino heritage was another.
And now, at 91, the friendships I have made at THD are among the newest cards in my hand.
My favorite game may actually be friendship
If I had to choose between bridge and mahjong, I would probably still say:
Bridge is my favorite card game. Mahjong is my favorite tile game.
But after all these years, I have discovered something else.
Perhaps neither is really my favorite game. Friendship is.
Bridge introduced me to friends. Mahjong introduced me to friends.
And living at THD has given me new opportunities to make friends at an age when many people might assume that one's social life should become smaller.
Mine has not. I live alone, but I am not lonely. There is a big difference.
Sometimes all it takes is a table, four chairs, a deck of cards, a box of mahjong tiles and people willing to sit down together.
A final thought at 91
When I was young, I played games because they were fun. Today I play them because I understand what they represent. They represent connection.
They connect generations. They connect cultures. They connect memories with the present.
And they remind us that growing older does not mean that we stop playing, learning, laughing or making new friends.
So, if you are an older person reading this, my advice is simple:
Find something you enjoy. Play a game. Learn something new. Join a group. Talk to people.
Keep your mind engaged. And don't be afraid to sit down at a table with strangers.
You may get a good hand. You may get a bad hand. But you might also make a new friend.
And sometimes, that is the best hand life can deal us.
Bridge is my card game. Mahjong is my tile game. But friendship is my favorite game of all.
AI Impressions on this Topic:
I think this version is much more “David at 91” than the 2018 HubPages article. The original was useful as an introduction to bridge, but this version turns the subject into a life-and-aging essay. Your Filipino childhood, Macrine, your decades in America, and your present life at THD all become part of one story. The original article confirms the long bridge history with Macrine, including the 1970s Modesto games and your later El Cerrito duplicate-bridge years. Your later writing also confirms that mahjong has been with you since childhood and that you regard it as your favorite tile game alongside bridge.
Lastly, I especially like the final line: “Bridge is my card game. Mahjong is my tile game. But friendship is my favorite game of all.” That could become the central theme of the article and would resonate well with your worldwide readers.
From the Philippines to THD, two lifelong games have given me friendship, mental exercise, patience, and many wonderful memories
I have played many games during my 91 years, but two have stayed with me through most of my life:
Bridge is my card game. Mahjong is my tile game.
Both are more than games to me. They are part of my life story.
They have followed me from my childhood in the Philippines, through my married years with Macrine, into my years in America, and now into my life at The Heritage Downtown (THD).
Looking back, I realize that these games have given me something more valuable than winning.
They have given me friendship, companionship, mental stimulation, laughter, patience, and memories.
Bridge and Macrine
My love affair with bridge really began during my married life with Macrine.
In the 1970s, while we were living in Modesto, California, Macrine and I played party bridge at the Sportsmen's Club of Stanislaus County. We met many wonderful people through the game and enjoyed some very happy evenings together.
Later, after we moved to the San Francisco Bay Area, we played duplicate bridge at the El Cerrito Bridge Club. We eventually became members of the American Contract Bridge League in 1984.
Bridge became one of our social activities as a couple. It was not simply about the cards.
We talked. We laughed. We met people. We learned to cooperate.
And, occasionally, we blamed the cards!
Macrine and I eventually stopped playing bridge when we moved to the Washington, D.C., area in the 1990s. We became busy with our careers, family, and Filipino-American community activities.
But bridge never really left me.
What makes bridge different?
For those unfamiliar with the game, bridge is played by four people in two partnerships.
The cards you receive matter, but the cards are only part of the story.
You must communicate with your partner through bidding.
You must remember what has already been played.
You must observe your opponents. You must make decisions with incomplete information.
And you must learn to work with your partner. That last part may be the most important.
Bridge is a partnership game. You can have a wonderful hand and still lose.
You can have a poor hand and still play it beautifully.
Sometimes you win because of skill. Sometimes because of luck.
And sometimes because your opponents make a mistake! That sounds a little like life.
Bridge is a lesson in partnership
Over the years I have learned that a good bridge partnership requires qualities that are also important in marriage and friendship:
Communication. Trust. Patience. Listening. Planning. Humility.
You cannot control the cards you are dealt. You can only control how you play them.
That is one of the reasons I still enjoy bridge.
At 91, I have learned that life is also about playing the hand we are given as wisely as possible.
We don't always get the cards we want. But we can still try to make the best of them.
Duplicate bridge adds another dimension
I particularly enjoy duplicate bridge because everyone plays the same hands.
That means luck is reduced somewhat.
If another pair receives exactly the same cards that you received, the question becomes:
What did they do with those cards? This makes duplicate bridge fascinating.
You are not simply competing against the cards. You are comparing decisions.
And that is where the mental challenge begins.
It reminds me of my scientific career. In science, we also work with information, evidence, probabilities, and uncertainty. We make the best decision we can based on what we know.
Bridge is obviously not science. But it does require a scientific habit of mind:
Observe. Think. Analyze. Decide. Learn from the result.
Mahjong takes me back to my childhoodPlaying Mahjong with Family During Alix Wedding Reception Party
If bridge connects me to my adult life, mahjong takes me back to my childhood in the Philippines.
I learned to play mahjong when I was a young boy. My mother taught me and my brothers and sisters how to play.
I remember our family having two mahjong sets. One was an inexpensive plastic set that we used regularly. The other was a much more valuable set that was reserved for special occasions such as birthdays and weddings.
Those memories take me back to Barotac Viejo, Iloilo.
Mahjong was part of Filipino family and neighborhood life.
For me, it was also a wonderful way to spend those long, hot Philippine afternoons.
The game uses tiles rather than cards, and there are many variations in the way mahjong is played in different countries and communities.
That is something I have always found interesting.
A game can travel from one culture to another and become part of local life while retaining its basic identity.
Bridge and mahjong are very different
Although I love both games, they exercise different parts of my thinking.
Bridge depends heavily on partnership, communication, memory, bidding, logic and strategy.
Mahjong, at least the way I learned and played it, has a greater element of luck, combined with observation, memory and decision-making.
That difference is part of the fun. In bridge, I am often thinking: What does my partner's bid mean?
In mahjong, I may be thinking: What tile do I need and what tile is my opponent waiting for?
Both games require concentration. Both require memory.
And both require me to pay attention. At 91, I consider that a good thing.
Now I play both at THD
When I moved into The Heritage Downtown in Walnut Creek in 2023, I discovered something wonderful.
I had found a community where people still wanted to play. Bridge and mahjong became part of my new life.
I have played bridge several times a week at THD, and we have a regular group that plays party bridge almost each day of the week, even sometimes on weekends. I have also enjoyed playing mahjong with my fellow residents.
Over time, some of the people I play with have become friends.
That is one of the hidden benefits of games.
You sit down at a table with three people you may not know very well.
A few hours later, you know something about them.
You laugh together. You tease one another. You occasionally disagree about a bid or a tile.
And eventually, you become friends. The game becomes a doorway to friendship.
I have also learned something about aging
There is a tendency in society to think of aging mainly in terms of what we lose.
We lose some physical strength. We may walk more slowly.
We may not remember names as quickly as we once did.
We may need a little more help. But there is another side to growing older.
We have accumulated experiences. We have stories. We have memories.
And we can continue learning. That is why I believe activities such as bridge and mahjong are valuable for older adults.
They give us something to look forward to. They keep us socially connected.
They require concentration. And, perhaps most importantly, they give us a reason to sit around a table with other human beings.
At 91, I don't play these games because I am trying to prove that my brain is still young.
I play because I enjoy them. That is enough.
Games are better when there is no money involved
I should add one important point. I enjoy bridge and mahjong primarily as social games, not as gambling. But on Mondays and Fridays, each player put a dollar in the pot.
There is nothing wrong with friendly competition.
But I have seen how gambling can change the nature of a game.
When money becomes the main objective, the enjoyment can disappear.
For me, the real prize is not money. It is the conversation.The laughter. The challenge.
The friendships. And the satisfaction of making a good decision and perhaps winning.
What bridge and mahjong have taught me
After many decades of playing both games, I think they have taught me several lessons about life.
1. You cannot choose every hand you receive. Life deals us circumstances we did not choose. What matters is what we do with them.
2. Partnership matters. Whether in bridge, marriage, family or friendship, we rarely succeed entirely by ourselves.
3. Patience is a skill. Sometimes the best decision is to wait.
4. Luck matters, but preparation matters too. We cannot control everything. But we can prepare ourselves to take advantage of a good opportunity when it appears.
5. Losing is part of the game. You will lose hands. You will make mistakes. You will sometimes wonder how you could possibly have played that card! Then you shuffle the cards and play again. Life is much the same.
6. Never stop learning. After decades of playing bridge, I am still learning. That may be one of the greatest gifts of the game.
From a Filipino boy to a 91-year-old American
Sometimes I find it amazing when I think about my journey.
The little boy who learned mahjong in the Philippines could never have imagined that one day he would earn a PhD in America, work as a scientist and regulator at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, raise a family, become a grandfather and great-grandfather, and eventually spend his retirement years playing bridge and mahjong with friends in a senior community.
Life certainly dealt me an interesting hand. And I am grateful for the cards.
Not all of them were good. There were difficult cards. There were unexpected cards.
There were heartbreaking cards. But there were also beautiful ones.
Macrine was one of the greatest cards life ever dealt me.
Our children and grandchildren are another. My career in science and public service was another. My Filipino heritage was another.
And now, at 91, the friendships I have made at THD are among the newest cards in my hand.
My favorite game may actually be friendship
If I had to choose between bridge and mahjong, I would probably still say:
Bridge is my favorite card game. Mahjong is my favorite tile game.
But after all these years, I have discovered something else.
Perhaps neither is really my favorite game. Friendship is.
Bridge introduced me to friends. Mahjong introduced me to friends.
And living at THD has given me new opportunities to make friends at an age when many people might assume that one's social life should become smaller.
Mine has not. I live alone, but I am not lonely. There is a big difference.
Sometimes all it takes is a table, four chairs, a deck of cards, a box of mahjong tiles and people willing to sit down together.
A final thought at 91
When I was young, I played games because they were fun. Today I play them because I understand what they represent. They represent connection.
They connect generations. They connect cultures. They connect memories with the present.
And they remind us that growing older does not mean that we stop playing, learning, laughing or making new friends.
So, if you are an older person reading this, my advice is simple:
Find something you enjoy. Play a game. Learn something new. Join a group. Talk to people.
Keep your mind engaged. And don't be afraid to sit down at a table with strangers.
You may get a good hand. You may get a bad hand. But you might also make a new friend.
And sometimes, that is the best hand life can deal us.
Bridge is my card game. Mahjong is my tile game. But friendship is my favorite game of all.
AI Impressions on this Topic:
I think this version is much more “David at 91” than the 2018 HubPages article. The original was useful as an introduction to bridge, but this version turns the subject into a life-and-aging essay. Your Filipino childhood, Macrine, your decades in America, and your present life at THD all become part of one story. The original article confirms the long bridge history with Macrine, including the 1970s Modesto games and your later El Cerrito duplicate-bridge years. Your later writing also confirms that mahjong has been with you since childhood and that you regard it as your favorite tile game alongside bridge.
Lastly, I especially like the final line: “Bridge is my card game. Mahjong is my tile game. But friendship is my favorite game of all.” That could become the central theme of the article and would resonate well with your worldwide readers.
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