Romance...and Scrabble?

Keli Gwyn here on National Scrabble Day with a confession.

Although I enjoy playing Scrabble, I'm not very good at it. My husband, on the other hand, is. In fact, he's so good that I almost didn't accept his invitation when he asked me out on our first date--all because of a Scrabble game.

A girlfriend and I had attended a gal's night out with single friends from church. As part of the event, there was a short devotion on dating by a married woman, who gave us single gals some dating tips.

One of the tips was not to try so hard. The presenter encouraged us to keep our focus on friendship first, which would give us time to get to know guys as friends before things got serious. She suggested hosting a dinner party but making sure the number of guys and gals was uneven so there was no pairing off.

My girlfriend and I thought the dinner party idea was great, so we invited three fellows. One of them was new to our singles group. His name just so happened to be Carl Gwyn.

The meal went well. Afterward, we played a board game which was--you guessed it--Scrabble. My friend and one fellow teamed up. I teamed up with another. Carl was odd man out, but he cheerfully said that was fine with him.

The game began well enough, but it soon became apparent that the two-person teams couldn't compete with our solo player. The four of us whipped our words down with impressive speed, more focused on fun than winning, whereas Carl took his time studying the board before each move and placing his tiles with care. At one point, Carl used a Q and landed on a triple-word square. He racked in some fifty points on that word alone, rocketing past us.

Along the way, I experienced an attitude shift. Because I'm a wee bit competitive, I wasn't too thrilled with being outsmarted. After all, Carl was a science teacher, and I was working as an assistant editor. I should have done better than he did, or so I told myself.

So, when Carl called to ask me out on a date, I had second thoughts. I even asked my roommates what they thought. Both gals encouraged me to give him a second chance and say yes. I did, and I soon found out what a great guy Carl is.

These days, I'm prepared to loose whenever I play Scrabble with Carl. He's still the champ, and I've made peace with that. However, I discovered Bananagrams. Since it's a game of speed, I have the advantage, and Gwynly has to work hard to keep up with me. But I don't gloat when I win. After all, he could challenge me to Scrabble and whomp me soundly. :-)

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What is your favorite Scrabble memory?
Is it a game you enjoy, or do you prefer another, as I do?