Pass it on

Last year Mr K and I sat down and told a (very professional and friendly) stranger our entire family and financial history and came away with a nicely presented set of instructions on what we would like to happen when we peg it.  As unsettling as the process was, we congratulated ourselves on completing the grown up task of having our Wills written.

Then the other day, I was sat on the floor in the living room with my children.  For once the television was off and we were playing Snap.  My daughter told me that she wanted to play a different card game and I remembered a game that my dad taught me; a version of Patience called 'Beat the Clock'.

This is pretty much the only other card game I know - don't come calling for me if you need a Bridge partner - but as I set the cards out into their clockface and explained how the game worked I had a sense of passing something important on. 

We played the game several times, holding our breath with each turn of a card that in the hope that a King wouldn't show up and congratulating ourselves each time a number on the clock was completed. 

In the course of teaching this game to the children I realised that whilst there are no family heirlooms to connect the children to their granddad they now have 'his' card game. 

We patted ourselves on the back for getting our Wills done but I gave myself a huge hug for giving our children a connection to the granddad they never knew.   I hope they teach the game to their children.