R*******n
发帖数: 428 | 1 今天AGA 的文章很感人，特转于此。作者和她先生我都很熟。她先生Hal是钢琴家，曾
经在AGA年会上以黑白子的战斗为主题弹奏一曲，很感人。
=========转转转=======================================
The Traveling Board: My Father’s Last Game
Mar 29, 2012 08:08 am
by Betsy Small
My father, Dr. Paul M. Howard, was a psychoanalyst who loved to connect with
others through the game of go. He was a very quiet man, and go became a
special way for the two of us to bond.
My father discovered go in the 1940s in a book by chess International Master
Edward Lasker, Go and Go-Moku: the Oriental Board Games, originally
published in 1934. He never got to play an actual game until the 1960s,
however, when my older sister Judy married a go enthusiast, who spent many
enjoyable hours playing with my father. About six years later my father was
delighted when I married Haskell (Hal) Small, another go enthusiast, and
happier still when I learned the game a few years later. For us this marked
the beginning of our communication through go for many years to come. I
distinctly remember our very first game – neither of us understood much
about it, but we had fun splitting the board diagonally into two parts, “
His Side” and “Her Side.”
In the beginning, our games were limited to several visits every year, since
my parents lived in Boston and Hal and I lived in Washington DC. But after
the advent of the Internet, my father and I found online go a joyful way to
connect across the miles that separated us.
In the fall of 2006, shortly after my father celebrated his 100th birthday,
he suffered several small strokes, and we moved him to a senior residence in
Washington so I could spend as much time with him as possible. While his go
skills had declined, my father’s enthusiasm for the game remained strong
and now we could play go most every day. At his peak he had been as strong
as 10 kyu but now he was perhaps more like 40 kyu. I had remained a 13 kyu
for many years and was now giving him a 3 or 4 stone handicap on a 9 x 9
board. Occasionally my father would express frustration with his waning go
skills, but he took comfort in being reminded of how exciting the process of
playing go remained for him. Most of the time, even at a weaker level,
playing continued to give him great pleasure, because he still loved go, and
our games were meaningful occasions for both of us.
As my father’s health declined we moved him to a hospice. Early one morning
in January, 2007, we received a call that he had only hours to live, and we
rushed to his bedside. My father’s pulse was weak and he was barely able
to speak, but his eyes opened and he smiled when he saw us, managing a
surprisingly firm handshake for Hal. Even more surprising were the faint
words he spoke: “black stones…white stones…” Because he was too weak to
sit up, we got out the board and placed it on his belly. From this angle he
could not get a clear view of the bowls or the board, so I guided his hand
to the bowl. He picked up a stone, and then I guided his hand to the board.
Although he couldn’t see where the stone landed, he placed it with great
intention. I made my move and we continued back and forth with these
familiar and comforting motions for ten or fifteen minutes, until he
gestured that the game was over. Not too long after that, a look of
contentment, deep tranquility and fulfillment on his face, my father passed
from this world.
That last game with my father, more of a symbolic farewell than a thought-
out game of logic, will always be my most memorable. | a*****g
发帖数: 19398 | 2 我也看到了。我到时候作为大孩子们的阅读材料。
with
Master
【在 R*******n 的大作中提到】
: 今天AGA 的文章很感人，特转于此。作者和她先生我都很熟。她先生Hal是钢琴家，曾
: 经在AGA年会上以黑白子的战斗为主题弹奏一曲，很感人。
: =========转转转=======================================
: The Traveling Board: My Father’s Last Game
: Mar 29, 2012 08:08 am
: by Betsy Small
: My father, Dr. Paul M. Howard, was a psychoanalyst who loved to connect with
: others through the game of go. He was a very quiet man, and go became a
: special way for the two of us to bond.
: My father discovered go in the 1940s in a book by chess International Master
| n******m
发帖数: 644 | 3 确实很感人。
想不到麻州俱乐部还有这么一位寿星，可惜无缘相识。
1789 Howard, Paul M. -14.06886 0.58758 3/1/1996
Massachusetts Go Association MA 1/28/1997 Full | S*****y
发帖数: 2871 | |
|
