For several years now, since my youngest daughter, Kassidy, and her husband, Ben, and sons, Caleb, Nathan, Owen and Brendon (yep, lots of boys) , have moved backed to Oklahoma, Pattye and I would make the trip to Ardmore to either visit on holidays or simply just to see the kids.
It's a relatively short trip from Richardson, only a little over 100 miles, and it takes you across the Red River and into Oklahoma. And after only 3 miles from the state line and suddenly you are at the largest casino in the U.S., the WinStar World Casino and Resort with 600,000 square feet of gambling pleasure.
Every time we would pass by, I would say to Pattye, "Wanna stop?", knowing full well she had her schedule and the casino was not listed on it. It wasn't that she was against gambling, as a matter of fact she was actually pretty good at it. She had made her first trip to Las Vegas way before we met and then later after we were married, we made several trips to Lake Tahoe where I would spend the day skiing, a couple of times with my high school friend, P.J. Shank who lived nearby in Yuba City, Calif., while Pattye would spend endless hours playing black jack, roulette and the slots.
I've always enjoyed my money too much to want to part it with while playing any game where the House has the advantage, but even still I wasn't against trying my chance at a slot machine on occasion.
But that was then, and this is now. So on my latest trip to Ardmore this past week, as I was taking Cooper to stay with Kass and all the boys as I began preparing for a much needed visit to Dayton, Ohio on Wednesday, and my first time away since Pattye's passing, I drove past the casino on my way North. I kinda smiled to myself and found myself saying to an empty car, well except for Cooper, "Wanna stop?". It was a good memory and even Cooper's ears perked up thinking like I was talking to him.
Well, I didn't stop on the way up, but after I dropped off my loyal furry-boy for a week of fun, I headed back South and back home and the casino came into view.
Hmmm, yep, one of these new found freedoms that I certainly didn't choose to have but have now been thrust upon me. "Should I stop or should I go?...Decisions, decisions. Heck, I needed to eat so dang it, I might as well stop at the World's Largest Casino.
There were hundreds of cars in the parking lot and it was just 2:00 PM on a Monday afternoon. Well, maybe there were tourists, I thought. As I locked my car and proceeded to go into one of the many entrances, a man slightly bent over, walking with a kind of slow shuffle, caught my eye.
As always I greeted him like I do anyone, anytime, with a "How ya doin?" He smiled and said, "Well it's kind of a sad day"
Gosh, I had shared my story so many times in the past month and a half that I guess I had forgotten that so many others have sadness in their life and I am certainly not alone. I asked him politely what the problem was?
"Well," he said, "I'm divorcing my third wife today and I just needed to come here and have some fun." I smiled back wondering what to say and he continued, "She's just like the other two. We couldn't get along. They all complained about me always wanting to come here to have fun. I guess it wasn't their cup of tea."
I smiled again and said, "Well dang, you were gamblin'"and then briefly shared my experience these past few weeks and he said, "Well dang, maybe my troubles aren't quite as bad as I thought"
He walked with me into the casino and actually we headed to the main entrance. It had been many, many years since I had been in a casino. Back in those days, everything was so much different. You played the slots by putting in real coins and when you won you got real coins back. Not anymore. In addition to having to show ID to get a plastic club card, everything is instant push buttons and if and when you win, you get a credit to your card. I guess it's still fun.
The first thing that caused me to realize I was in the wrong place was as soon as we entered one of the many rooms, the acrid smell of stale cigarettes hit me in the face. "Are you kidding me, I said aloud, "This is 2019 and the place allows smoking?" But not only do they allow smoking, every person I saw at the afternoon soiree had a cig in their mouth, hanging off their lip, while pushing their walker and even some dragging along an oxygen tank.
Wow, I don't think I will be staying long.
I walked around for about 40 minutes, occasionally, actually often, coughing and decided, "Nah, this wasn't such a good idea. But heck, why don't I try at least one slot."
It wasn't the conventional slot as I had known so many years ago. It was flashing neon, blaring music and very enticing. I put my players card into the machine, (this way the IRS can keep tabs on you) took out a $20.00, slid it into the tray and immediately I had a $20.00 credit. Since there was no handle to pull, you're left with a choice of different buttons on this particular no-arm bandit. I played just 50 cents at a time but it took only seconds as I watched my fortune dwindle down. $19.50, $19.00, $18.50, $18.00, $17.50 an then suddenly it happened. I was a winner. I had no idea what the combination was, the chart was too small to read and it didn't have cherries or sevens or nothing I recognized.
Suddenly, I saw my balance was up to $20.05. I said under my breath, "Heck yeah." I cashed out, took my ticket, with no fanfare of hearing coins drop out of the machine. Got my $20 back plus 5 pennies and got the hell out of there.
I know Pattye was smiling as I was experiencing my first found freedom. I smiled back and said, "Thanks for stoppin"
I hauled my butt back to Richardson, thankful for the day and thankful for a good memory AND 5 cents richer than when I left!
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