Outwitted, Outplayed and Outlasted

The first time I remember being in awe was the time when Nana Peterson answered the puzzle on Wheel of Fortune before any of the letters had been revealed. The answer was "Abraham Lincoln."



1st Set
Nana was up for a visit, probably around Easter. She usually came up around holidays. I remember because it was warm out on the day in question. It all began the night before. Nana was sitting at her usual spot at the kitchen table, eating cow’s tongue. While the rest of the family was simply thankful to be eating something else, Christine, the picky one, was disgusted - to put it mildly. As we watched in horror while Nana ate her dinner, Christine was compelled to make a comment or two, or six, about what she thought of Nana's dish. Finally, Nana could take no more. She dropped her cutlery, and left the kitchen without a word. If I close my eyes, I can still hear the sound of the knife and fork hitting the table. As Nana sat on the living room couch and sulked, Christine quietly enjoyed her small victory.

2nd Set
The next day, Christine I were outside the front of the house talking about the previous night's events. At the time, my parents had a station wagon with a color scheme that can be best described as varying shades of beige. I was sitting on the hood, and Christine was pacing in front of me with her head held high. As time passed, we became more and more boisterous. We were saying things like "Screw her!", and "She deserved it." We sat and laughed as we replayed the events.

3rd Set
Right in the middle of me saying, "Where does she get the nerve to think she could...” I froze mid-sentence as something caught my attention. I turned to my left, and sheer horror ran through me. There in the front seat of the station wagon, in a classic London Fog trench coat, sat Nana. The afternoon shade and the addition of more beige gave her the perfect camouflage. I turned back toward Christine and lowered my voice, but it was too late. "She's in the car", I whispered.

"And," Nana responded, "I heard everything you said." The comeback was underway.

4th Set
Christine and I did the only thing we could do. We ran inside, hiding in her room to regroup and plan our next play. We quickly realized that we needed help, so we called for Mom to come in. Mom's reaction, understandably, was that we were screwed. She decided to get Dad to weigh in. "Bring in Dad? Are you nuts?!", we said. Dad is a kind, generous and doting father, but his temper can sometimes get the best of him. Things were not looking good for us.

5th and Deciding Set
Dad actually found the whole story funny. This unexpected reaction began to make the whole thing feel like we were in The Twilight Zone. Dad convinced us to suck it up and apologize. It felt like a set-up, but at this point we had no choice. It was time to face the one woman firing squad. We were so young; we had so much to live for! We made our way to the kitchen and there she was, judge, jury and executioner sitting behind her bench. Christine did all of the talking and, as she admitted, with tears in her eyes, "We love you, Nana" a smile crossed Nana's face.

Game, Set, Match.