A heartfelt, though not led (at least by the picker) game

The lessons shuffle steadily, through generations and decks of cards.

You can be young at heart, they say, but for criminy sakes, don’t lead with hearts if you’re the picker.

Obviously.

Saturday afternoon, my husband Vince joined a merry band of Sheepshead players whose founders first formed an alliance at Southside Junior High 85 years ago.

Some of the original players were there in spirit, having moved on to richer hands in the sky.

Others, like 95-year John Debrauske, bellied up to the table in person, a lively link between an idyllic Sheboygan boyhood from which this eternal friendship sprang, and today.

John met my father in-law Vince Sr. in sixth grade and the two pranksters remained fast friends their whole lives. Though his parents eventually moved the family to Chicago, Vince Sr. kept in touch with his childhood friends. He took his sons on a Sheboygan summer pilgrimage every year so they could play the games and taste the hard rolls of his youth.

Vince Sr. past away in 2008 (having organized a Sheepshead game just two months prior), and, just as he would have wanted, the games played on.

Next month, John will celebrate his 96th birthday. A few years ago, he moved to a senior living facility, where he plays Sheepshead three times a week.

He can hold his own in a five-hand game. Saturday’s included his son Tom, and the three Biskupic boys — Steve, Vince and Jim. They play a high-stakes, low cost, double-on-the-bump game where the banter and the buy-in hasn’t changed in all these years.

“Ya bunch of Mauers!”

The game’s the draw in theory. But, really, it’s the guys and the stories they share.

They’re already planning the next round.