Tonight was a very special night at Mah Jongg, for a number of reasons. The mother of our member Mary passed away yesterday. In her grief and sorrow she found she really needed the profound comfort, closeness, and support of her mah jongg group, so she did come and spend a couple of hours with us tonight, even winning a game. We were so glad to have her in the fold, and to know how much our love and comfort meant to her. The set we were playing with belongs to another member – Kathleen – whose grandmother worked as a private nurse to wealthy Portlanders in the early 1900s. One of her clients gifted her with this beautiful bone and bamboo set as her service to that family came to a close. Kathleen and her siblings were never even allowed to touch it as children – who could have imagined that she’d learn the game and play with it a century after it came into her family?