The more the ‘Mary’-er
Four P.E.I. card players share love of the game and the same name
TRAVELLERS REST, P.E.I. – Every Monday after lunch, four women gather around a table in a Travellers Rest home for a game of cards, but a competitive streak isn’t the only thing they have in common.
Call the house looking to speak with one of them and it would be advisable to use a last name alongside the first: Webster Houston, Ramsay, Cousins or MacInnis.
Just asking for “Mary” would be confusing – it’s a name all four women share.
“We all answer when Mary’s called,” said Ramsay.
It’s not something any of the women planned for; rather, Webster Houston will tell you, “it just happened.”
Despite the shared name, none of the women feel a need to establish nicknames; MacInnis is sometimes called “Mary Mac,” but seldom among the women themselves.
Their little group has adapted pretty well to communicating among themselves.
When addressing another at the table, they freely call each other “Mary” without much more than a glance at the Mary in question.
“We don’t have any problem, there,” said Ramsay.
Knowing who’s being addressed, adds MacInnis, comes naturally to them all.
Their group was formed by Webster Houston more than a year ago; it started with her, MacInnis, Ramsay and Ramsay’s husband.
“I think the reason was, she (Ramsay) was always cooking a great big dinner for us,” said Webster Houston. “And I said, ‘why don’t we meet more often and have just a snack. So we did.’”
Shortly after the games started, Ramsay’s husband stopped attending the gatherings and Cousins joined the party in his stead.
“‘Marys’ was too hard on him” MacInnis joked.
“He was overwhelmed with us all,” Webster Houston added with a laugh.
GOING WAY BACK
Although the weekly card games are what brings the four Marys together, now, the women go way back. Some met through relatives, others during community card games or even while buying furniture.
For years until the pandemic put them on hold, the four would go on the Rainbow Valley tours with other seniors – including three other women named Mary.
MacInnis would make fudge for everyone, and Cousins would sing to the passengers.
“She (Cousins) was a great friend of Mary Smith who organized these bus tours,” said Webster Houston. “She always helped entertain with her music.”
Cousins had known Webster Houston for years prior
– it was the bus trips that introduced her to MacInnis and Ramsay.
“I really acknowledged her (Ramsay) when I started playing cards,” said Cousins. “I’d hear a lot about her, (before).”
Even before creating their group, they all had a passion for community card parties, and still have separate groups they meet on other days of the week.
This group, though, is the only one where all members of the party have a first name in common.
When people hear about the four card-playing Marys, the response varies from surprise to amusement.
MacInnis, meanwhile, hopes that the uniqueness of their situation will inspire other seniors to form their own cardplaying groups.
On one particular day in late March, the Marys played Skip-Bo. Other days, it might be Rook, (MacInnis’ favourite) hand and foot or Auction.
There’s no one game that’s preferred among the group. Cousins likes Crokinole, Ramsay is partial to bridge. As for Webster Houston?
“I have no favourites,” she said. “Whatever the rest like, I like.”
‘WHAT HAPPENS AT THE CARD GAMES’
The social gatherings are a great way to keep her mind sharp and active, said Webster Houston.
“You can’t retire and sit in a rocking chair,” she said. “Or your bones start aching.”
For Ramsay, though: “I just like playing cards.”
Cousins, meanwhile, sees the card games – both with this group and larger games in the community – as a good way to “make friends and enjoy a social life.”
Although she does not bake for the group as much as she used to, MacInnis said the fudge was her favourite part of the gatherings.
“I like to feed them good,” she said; she laughed and pointed at the two candy dishes placed in the center of the table.
As for the contents of the chatter over the course of three hours spent together in the afternoon?
The group erupted into laughter as Cousins informed SaltWire Network that that information is “censored.”
They willingly share, though, that they have a lot of laughs. For the most part, though, Webster Houston insists that “what happens at the card games, stays at the card games.”