we still play

I read recently that people who enjoy periodic recreation live longer.
Basically the article said there are real health benefits to play.
My sisters and I are pretty healthy. Maybe this is because we know how to play.

When we were young, we:

had tea parties under a mimosa tree
played dress up, taking turns being the bride and bridemaids.
We played school and grocery store.
We made forts through a thick stand of cane poles when we'd outgrown building them with sofa cushions.
We could be found wading and catching tad poles in the creek in the summer and slide skating on it in the winter.
On rainy days we played board games and card games and spent more than a little time looking through old pictures or sorting buttons. We played many of those same things with our kids and grandkids. Last Thanksgiving we played jax. Even some of the husbands participated.
We've fiercely competitive, especially playing scrabble and pick up sticks.
I still remember how much fun is was to sit on the porch swing on our Grandma's porch and watch the traffic on the highway, playing "the next car is your car." That's a game I think we invented. We would "call" the approaching vehicles as "mine" or "yours" and hope we claimed the cool ones for ourselves and the junkers for someone else. We kept score.
Even as adults we've had competitions on who could find the tackiest pair of shoes or most unusual music CD.
Who knew this was actually GOOD for us?!
I am going to encourage my sisters to come out/over and play more often!