My wife and I recently brought home an old croquet set from her parents’ house in Nashville. She remembers playing croquet with her family in Paraguay when she was a young girl. In fact, they played with that very croquet set with traces of Paraguayan mud still present on the balls and mallets. My children also remembered playing croquet when we visited Peggy’s parents in the summertime, after they retired from their missionary work and moved back to Tennessee. Our girls have vivid and happy memories of those croquet matches with the cousins in the Skinner’s backyard. Grandpa was always the one who set it up. He knew all the rules and took time to oversee every game, making sure all the grandkids played fairly and correctly. It was great fun for all the cousins, and usually ended with Grandma inviting everyone in for cookies and ice cream, or maybe even fresh, cold watermelon.
