An Easter Miracle

An Easter Miracle

Call it luck, call it Divine Intervention, call it what you want but for Janet Carrington it was nothing short of a miracle. 363-316 the final score of a scrabble game that ended the 3 game losing streak for Janet Carrington..

Janet and her opponent her nephew Christopher Barrow had had a long standing Scrabble feud. The two had gone head to head at family gatherings and ever since discovering Scrabble on Facebook they had continued duking it out internationally.

Lately however, Janet had found herself on the losing end of this Scrabble battle too many times for her liking.

“It was incredibly frustrating! It was almost like he knew where I was going to play. I would have an amazingly intricate set up of words in place and I’d be one click away from racking up a massive score and boom! When I looked he had gone exactly where I was about to go.” She shakes her head remembering. “If you could have heard de steupsing that went on during those games.” she laughs.” I remember thinking If this child wasn’t my nephew…”

And then it came. One magical game just before the Easter weekend. “I was getting vex with losing to be honest. And that day when we started I had decided ok it’s time to get serious.” So she brought out the heavy artillery. A little extra brain age. A warm shower to relax the mind. A microwaveable heating pad on the wrists to keep the mousing muscles loose. “Before the game I thought. This is it. If this game doesn’t go well I may have to move on to Sudoku or Monopoly.”

She recalls that the game didn’t begin in any special way. No seven letter word or triple word scores or anything like that. “I just pulled my letters, made my words and played them where they went best.”

Gradually however, she started noticing her lead creeping up. First it was only a couple points. Then a good ten, then twenty then forty and before she knew it she was leading by some sixty points.

“I couldn’t believe it. I remember thinking at one point in time that maybe he was letting Bella play!” she laughs recalling the thrill of being sixty or so points ahead of someone who had trounced her so many times. But as her lead started to shrink she knew it was not Bella. It was indeed Chris and her precious win was in danger. “I got a little worried once the point differential came down to forty. I thought oh boy this is taking too long. I better bring this thing home.”

And bring it home she did. Her last word (she can’t remember what it was) sealed the deal making the official final score 363-316. It was a long time coming but the Canadian has definitely earned her bragging rights. So what did the victor have to say?

“It was a great game, it will make a great Scrabble memory. Chris is a great player and a great guy and I look forward to more games with him in the future.”

Word.