YES I PLAY BUNKO - AND PROUD OF IT!

Although I have many more funny church stories, I don't feel like talking about those today. Today I want to talk about friends. I am not a very social gal; I tend to keep to myself. For being as overly exuberant as we all are, my sisters are the same way. We tend to keep to ourselves but are very social within our own family network.

I wish I were more social.....I just don't seem to have the time that I once did. My one strong exception is my BUNKO group. Yes, I play BUNKO. I have been in the same group for 15 years now. Yes, 15 years. Long before the "suggestion" from church leaders to abandon this heathenish practice. In fact I remember when the "ban" came out. We had the YW president, R.S. President, and former Bishop's wife in our group. Of course we were all wondering about this as our group did not gamble, talk bad about our husbands, spend exhorbitant amounts of money redecorating out homes to host BUNKO or go topless on cruises together. (These were all rumors we had heard as to the reason for the "ban". ) So one brave soul set up an appointment with the Bishop and voices our concerns. He wanted to know exactly what we did, how it worked, what we talked about, who was included etc. He then decided that our particular group was harmless and gave us his blessing! So, 12 years or so later, we are still claiming the permission from that Bishop even though Bishops have come and gone, members have come and gone, and we are all better people for having been in this group togethter.

No one leaves by choice. It would be too painful. Openings only come up in the most dire of circumstnaces, moving out of state, total change of job or calling, etc. We are not clickish in any way. We love and respect each other. We have members and non-members of the Church. We have been through so much together. We have laughed and cried together. We have raised our babies together. We have supported each other through births of babies, death of a spouse, divorce, death of parents, marriage of children, serious illness and most recently a tragic pharmacy error that happened to of one of our member's children. We have countless brought meals in to each other and have helped each other through personal crises and moves.

Today we did something different. We crafted together! We made the cutest Christmas Countdown blocks you have ever seen. Those of us who were available met at a church for our "BUNKO ENRICHMENT" and spent the entire day working together to make 35 sets of these darling creations. Because we know each other so well we were able to stream-line the process and call on each other's strenghts. We had Cafe Rio take out (of course) and watched each other's kids when needed. We drank Diet Coke and laughed and worked together. I love these women. And I am thankful for friends.