How Solitaire Helped Me Bond With My Father After He and My Mom Separated

My parents got divorced when I was 12 years old. I was angry and hurt, and it felt like my entire world was falling apart. I didn’t know who to turn to. My mother had moved out, and I barely got to see her.

I was mad both at my mom and dad and didn’t want to talk to them, not realizing back then that this “new arrangement” took a toll on them too.

My father had to work long hours to make ends meet, and I was feeling neglected and alone. He couldn’t afford a babysitter, so he would take me to his shop after school. While he worked and waited for clients, I was bored out of my mind with nothing to do. Although my father tried to cheer me up, I was stubborn and angry and didn’t let him.

One day, my father found an old computer in the shop’s basement, and he fixed it. It was a very old computer, and there was only one game on it — Solitaire. He started playing the game, but I didn’t want to join him. I was afraid to let my guard down.

After some time, while my father was working, I sneakily turned on the computer and started playing Solitaire. However, since I didn’t know how to play it, I lost every time I started a new game. I was desperate for a win, even if it was just a card game, so I asked my father to teach me how to play.

Every time I played, I tried to finish it faster than the previous game.

One day, I finished the game in only 2 minutes. I was very excited and happy, and I felt alive again. My father was so happy to see me like that and suggested we compete to see who would finish a game of Solitaire faster. The winner got to choose what food we ordered for dinner.

Some days, my father would win, and some days I would. But one thing was constant — we ate dinner together, in a good mood and excited about the next day and a new record to achieve.

We played Solitaire for quite some time, and with each day, my father and I grew closer. When one of us broke the record, we would hug each other and celebrate. It turned out that we weren’t playing against each other, but rather, together on a mission to find out how fast we could win a game.

Back then, I didn’t realize how much playing Solitaire was helping me bond with my father during one of the hardest times of our lives. If it weren’t for that old computer with that one game on it, maybe I would never have given my father an opportunity to come back into my life. Or maybe it would have been too late, and I’d have regretted it my whole life.

Now, at the age of 30, I am married and have kids of my own. I cherish those moments spent in my father’s shop even more now, playing that one game that changed our lives. Although we live in different towns these days and are miles apart, we still get together once a week to play Solitaire Social online.

Our record so far is 47 seconds.

Bright Side gets commissions for game plays made through the links in this post.