Faded Memories

We had a Magic Tournament (Booster Draft) earlier this week. (Sue gave me booster packs for Christmas.) Jared had laundry and homework to do, so it was Rob, Joe, Sue, Matt, and myself. The women folk watched "Pride and Prejudice" long version. I beat Rob one game when he had two mulligans. Matt won the tournament. I just went to the following site, which is 5 to 6 years old: http://www.wizards.com/Magic/Magazine/Article.aspx?x=mtgcom/10a/contesttop5memorableplaces The following was my contest entry for an essay contest:

Magic's 10th Anniversary Contest

2nd prize John Walker, New York, US

We, my wife and seven children, arrived in Korea in the autumn of 1993. I was a soldier stationed at Camp Casey in Dongducheon, South Korea. The children, ranging in age from sixteen to five, were experiencing their first trip outside the United States. For a year we lived downtown in a large room, formerly the back room of a restaurant. We kept track of time by the sound of trains coming and leaving the train station next-door. The kids spent mornings being home-schooled and afternoons visiting places around the community. One favorite place to visit was the post exchange.

As the holiday season drew near that year, we were introduced to the wonderful world of Magic. Magic cards were a hot commodity and popular with most everyone. As soon as they arrived, they quickly sold-out. When possible, young soldiers from the camp would come to our home and play Magic with the family. Our Korean friends enjoyed reading the English on the cards. It was a great time. Our furnace broke down nightly, but we stayed warm, huddled together, targeting frozen shades, walls of ice, and "shiver" dragons with fireballs and elemental blasts.

When I left for work in the morning, there might be a dozen people sleeping peacefully on the floor, contented from an evening of playing Magic in our humble abode. Our oldest son left early the following summer to return to the U.S. and attend college. He went on to be a Magic state champion and played in the Magic U.S. Nationals. He sold his Black Lotus and Moxes to go on a honeymoon when he got married. The final weekend of the honeymoon was spent supporting his younger brother at Junior Super Series in New York City. From the Big Apple to the City of Angels and in between our family members have played Magic. There are only two children left at home now, but the entire family continues to play Magic, especially when we get together for the holidays. Though we now naturalize and break asunder each other's enchantments, the most enchanted memory for me is a large one room apartment in the Land of the Morning Calm where everyone played Magic and slept on the floor.

After reading the essay, my children informed me that it was not Magic that they were playing; that they started playing Magic one year later in Taegu. It's rough to get old and lose your memory:-)