Welcome new guest blogger Carolyn Wedel. She and I met at a bridge club. She told me she was an avid reader and, sometimes writer. No surprise we struck an immediate friendship. She shared some of her work. I thought her articles would make fun blog posts and convinced her to become regular blogger. Enjoy her first Once Upon A topic below and then be sure to check back on Tuesdays for more tips and thoughts from this multi-talented lady.

ONCE UPON A GAME…Playing Bridge Activates Brain Cells
A Guest Blog by Carolyn Wedel

Do you like to challenge your brain? Do you like to play cards? Do you like to interact with others?

Research shows playing challenging card and domino games can stimulate brain cells. I’m on board with that.

I grew up playing cards. My early beginnings were Canasta, then as an adult, I learned to play the domino game called 42.

One of the characteristics of 42 was it has trumps. Before I learned about 42, I had no idea what a trump was. It sounded foreign to me.

After playing 42 Dominoes, I discovered the game I dearly love to this day, which is called Bridge.

The person who introduced me to the game said it had trumps. Well, I knew what trumps were, so I thought how hard could this game be?

I laugh about that comment today.  Bridge is by far the most brain challenging card game out there.

Bridge is not hard once you learn the basics, but it is challenging.

Playing Bridge requires you to focus, stretch your brain cells, and interact with others. Since I’m a competitive person, this was right up my ally.

Did you answer yes to any of the questions at the beginning? If so, I highly recommend you find a bridge club near you and start playing bridge.

You can choose to play socially, called Party Bridge, or competitively, known as Duplicate Bridge.  But either way, your brain cells will grow and you’ll make lifelong friends.

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Carolyn Wedel’s business life is over (retired) and now she applies her computer skills for the Bridge Community.  She is an avid player of games and sports, which included riding English Dressage competition.  She is a Certified American Contract Bridge League (ACBL) teacher and earned the level of Bronze Life Master this year.  Another love she has is the needle arts…embroidering towels, apparel, and other items, with mostly a bridge theme.

And with a little time left over, she cooks for her husband.