Wednesday, April 07, 2004
Back from Las Vegas! I definitely had more than just a double Kamikaze Friday night...as evidenced by the massive hang over I had on Saturday. But as they say, it's the price to pay to the party gods (that's actually a quote from "Clueless").
It was really hard to concentrate while I was there. I definitely had fun, and needed to get away from it all for a little while...but my mind went wandering a little. Ok, my mind went wandering quite a bit.
Being in a casino reminds me of my dad. He and my mother used to go gambling at the local Indian reservations, and the most recent time we went as a family was during my mother's birthday this year (back in January). We sat at the nickel slots with my dad and each put in at least a $10. I gave my dad some money to gamble, too. We went to this fishing themed slot machine. It's the kind were it takes about 30 nickels and you could win on multiple lines. I think I won about $10.
I just couldn't bring myself to play one of those games in Vegas. I tried 1 nickel slot, and then I just stuck to the quarter ones (also, I was using my friend's MGM Players card, and you can't win any points just doing the nickels).
It's strange how you associate images and sounds with people. Since I don't gamble, I associate any of the sounds of the clining machines and the surroundings of a casino with my parents because that was their little hobby on the weekends. My mom and dad were very good at saving their money, so they never hurt paying bills and had a nice amount of expendable cash to have fun with...and they both loved nothing better than to casino hop at the Indian reservations. It was never difficult to get them gifts for Christmas and birthdays because they just wanted gambling money, or wanted to eat at the buffet at any of the casinos.
My mom and dad loved going to the casinos, not just to win money...but for the time together. They are close to their retirement years, and my dad wanted to just work until he reached 65. He knew his social security and retirement would kick in, then they were going to travel around San Diego and possibly the US to go to some of the major casinos (like Las Vegas and Taj Mahal in Atlantic City).
I took my mom to lunch, shopping and to my dad's grave yesterday. She told me about their planned casino hopping trip, and was so sad when she realized her partner in crime wasn't going to be around to plan it anymore.
I think I'll plan a trip to Vegas with my mom. Or maybe she needs to go with her friends. I think she needs to associate the sounds and sights of the casino with new things so that she doesn't get too sad about it. Right now, she imagines my dad sitting next to her while playing...she remembers the shirts he would wear and their routines: they would go to lunch at the Navy Exchange then head to the casino (always calling both their daughters to tell us they were going to "study" at "school", which always made us laugh...no matter how many times they said it). Then they would have dinner at the buffet there, and depending on if they had a comped room, they would either come home or stay the night.
I could tell how much she misses him when she reminisces about those times, and little does she know that she helps me to create a vivid memory that I also will retain in both my heart and my mind.
It was really hard to concentrate while I was there. I definitely had fun, and needed to get away from it all for a little while...but my mind went wandering a little. Ok, my mind went wandering quite a bit.
Being in a casino reminds me of my dad. He and my mother used to go gambling at the local Indian reservations, and the most recent time we went as a family was during my mother's birthday this year (back in January). We sat at the nickel slots with my dad and each put in at least a $10. I gave my dad some money to gamble, too. We went to this fishing themed slot machine. It's the kind were it takes about 30 nickels and you could win on multiple lines. I think I won about $10.
I just couldn't bring myself to play one of those games in Vegas. I tried 1 nickel slot, and then I just stuck to the quarter ones (also, I was using my friend's MGM Players card, and you can't win any points just doing the nickels).
It's strange how you associate images and sounds with people. Since I don't gamble, I associate any of the sounds of the clining machines and the surroundings of a casino with my parents because that was their little hobby on the weekends. My mom and dad were very good at saving their money, so they never hurt paying bills and had a nice amount of expendable cash to have fun with...and they both loved nothing better than to casino hop at the Indian reservations. It was never difficult to get them gifts for Christmas and birthdays because they just wanted gambling money, or wanted to eat at the buffet at any of the casinos.
My mom and dad loved going to the casinos, not just to win money...but for the time together. They are close to their retirement years, and my dad wanted to just work until he reached 65. He knew his social security and retirement would kick in, then they were going to travel around San Diego and possibly the US to go to some of the major casinos (like Las Vegas and Taj Mahal in Atlantic City).
I took my mom to lunch, shopping and to my dad's grave yesterday. She told me about their planned casino hopping trip, and was so sad when she realized her partner in crime wasn't going to be around to plan it anymore.
I think I'll plan a trip to Vegas with my mom. Or maybe she needs to go with her friends. I think she needs to associate the sounds and sights of the casino with new things so that she doesn't get too sad about it. Right now, she imagines my dad sitting next to her while playing...she remembers the shirts he would wear and their routines: they would go to lunch at the Navy Exchange then head to the casino (always calling both their daughters to tell us they were going to "study" at "school", which always made us laugh...no matter how many times they said it). Then they would have dinner at the buffet there, and depending on if they had a comped room, they would either come home or stay the night.
I could tell how much she misses him when she reminisces about those times, and little does she know that she helps me to create a vivid memory that I also will retain in both my heart and my mind.
Comments:
Post a Comment
