Day #139 in A Year of Thanks:
I’m thankful for the cool new chess course on Duolingo.

When I was a little kid, I used to have these recurring dreams about what life with my biological father would have been like. At the time, I thought he was a man whose initials I’m writing as V.C., as I wrote in my story about my ancestral journey and finding my natural father. Anyway, V.C. was born and raised in Brooklyn, NY. So, in these recurring dreams, that’s where we lived, and I would have vivid images of him smoking a cigarette while trying to teach me how to play chess, and I enjoyed playing the game with him. However, it turns out in real life that he’s not my biological father, and no one’s been able to teach me how to play chess.

I don’t know why I pictured V.C. as the type of man who plays chess. I don’t even know if he likes it or plays it. I think it was just my kid brain, or my subconsciousness, craving that special father-daughter bond I never got to experience growing up. So, chess, I’ve always had an interest in learning how to play it, but I haven’t found the right mentor. I’m excited to see that Duolingo has created a course on learning how to play. I’m testing the course to see if the knowledge will actually stick. So, stay tuned. I’ll let you know when I’ve finished the course.

Day 138 | Day 139 | Day 140
Year of Thanks