THREE THINGS GAME

THREE THINGS GAME

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

  As boys living in Hamilton and then Dundalk during the 1930 – 40s, we gathered as an active neighborhood gang as often as possible. (Think “Our Gang”, not “da gang”.) Often with little or no paraphenalia for games, we improvised. A Christmas gift of Monopoly or Parchessi was soon worn out from much play. When a prized gift of baseball bat broke a discarded broomstick or shovel handle became our swatter. A real horsehide baseball was treasured and carefully taken care of. One time a poor mother saved pennies and bought a baseball for her boy. Though cowhide, it was appreciated by the gang. It worked well until the biggest strongest boy came to bat . . . leaving it misshapen as it was filled with compacted sawdust. Until it finally burst in cloud of dust blowing in the wind, it’s trajectory was totally unpredictable.

  Lacking equipment, many times we would play mind games: What do you see in the clouds? Do you see among those trees those that look like some of our neighbors? How far could the Babe hit a golfball with a baseball bat?

  Our all-time favorite was the 3 Things Game.

  If you won a million dollars and could ony spend it on 3 things ….

  If you were on death row and could choose only 3 things for your last meal ….

  If you were going to die tomorrow what 3 things would you do ….

  Many other variations poured forth from our fertile minds.

  But our all-time favorite was “If you were going to die tonight, and could only tell people 3 things, what would they be?”

  How would you answer the question this day? (All responses will be published at a later date.)

EBB4