The game is over... and I really miss the game

When the boys were young, we thought it would be a good observational exercise to have them look for something. We chose the Bicentennial quarters which were minted in 1976. In the mid-80s when we started this game, Bicentennials still abounded and it wasn't unusual to spot one a week. They enjoyed this game for a while and we gathered about $30 worth of 1976 quarters which we still have sitting around, rolled and ready for some thoughtless descendant to spend frivolously. Just as a comparison, we might find one 1976 quarter a year now. It would appear that others have played our game.

But a new game came on the horizon when the state quarters were released in 1999, five per year, in order of joining the Union. The boys were long gone from the household, but we played the game, checking change until we found 4 of each issue and tucking them away in a jar. Some of them were easy; many proved elusive and I'd find issue x+1 before I found its predecessor.

But when Hawaii came out and I opted to change a dollar bill for four beautiful shiny coins at the bank, the game was over. Now change is just change.

I miss the game. I'll have to think of another.