When I moved into my new place I didn’t have much.
Just the basics. Barely that.
One of the first things I picked up was a deck of cards for a few bucks. That was about what I had. I’d always had one around, I always played with the kids, but somehow I’d left without one.
I didn’t think much of it at the time.
It was just a deck of cards.
Recently, when I was just shuffling that same deck alone while the kids were at their mother’s, I realized how much it had carried me through. The separation, the move, the custody hearings, the final divorce. All of it happened within reach of that deck.
When the girls were with me we played. We laughed, argued about the rules. We sat at a table together and forgot, for an hour, that everything had changed.
When they weren’t with me I shuffled or played solitaire. It kept my hands busy so my mind couldn’t get away from me.
It was the simplest thing in the apartment.
Turns out that’s exactly what I needed.
Simple. Inexpensive. Always there. No batteries. No wifi. No agenda.
Just 52 cards.
Looking back, keeping it simple was what got me through. The deck of cards reminded me of that every time I picked it up.
That’s why 52 is here.