Gramma, Buddha, and the Elusive Royal Flush | Pinwheel Modern Hanging Art Mobile

 

Mobile: Pinwheel in Pennsylvania

 

On playing

“But I don’t know all the rules,” said fox.

“Nobody does,” replied crow. “Just follow your heart.”

 

Thoughts while making

“I played a lot of poker machines in Vegas,” she wrote. “I got a Royal Flush with three quarters in and got $199. I wasn’t as happy as I probably should have been,” she continued, “but I am determined to get a Royal with all the coins in before I die.”

This was my 82-year-old Gramma. She loved to gamble. And she loved Vegas. She said her body didn’t hurt as much in the dry heat.

Gramma was always talking about hitting it big. Whether it was winning the Publishers Clearing House or Reader’s Digest sweepstakes or those poker machines in Vegas, Pechanga, and Barona.

“If I had had five coins in,” she said, “I would’ve gotten $1000.”

Back in her mobile home in Escondido, she and my Grampa had these small Buddhas and bodhisattvas taped to the shelves that lined their walls. I often wondered what these saints and sadhus thought of all of the gambling.

When a customer in Drums, PA, recently sent me this photo of the Pinwheel mobile, the wooden samurai on the side table instantly made me flash to my grandparents’ mobile home and the handful of statues I inherited.

“I cried a little on the way back from Vegas because I didn’t want to start hurting again,” my Gramma shared before cutting herself short. “I had better stop this idiotic rambling. However I always feel I can tell you stuff that I don’t tell other people.”

“I don’t mind dying,” she said, “I just want to get a Royal with all the money in just once.”

My Gramma never hit the Royal Flush with all the coins in. But she kept playing, and had hope, and had the best laugh. And I guess that’s the best any of us can do.

What’s your favorite card game?