For reasons that are not important to this post, there was a disconnect between my immediate family and my father's family from the time I was approximately 12 years old (when he passed away) through about 5 years ago. While my siblings have since been able to develop a close relationship with that side of the family, my communications with that side of the family have been primarily through telephone and text.
About a year ago, an uncle reached out to me. He had heard from my younger sister that I was interested in poker and that I had recently finished out the basement and had a table built. He told me that he had something in his attic that had belonged to his father (my grandfather) that he thought I would enjoy having in my poker room, and promised to put it in the mail.
When it arrived, it was clear that this had been sitting for quite some time. There was no glass, more than 1/2 of the cards had fallen off the backing and were loose (although all were present) and there was a layer of dust/grime covering everything that was not going to come off easily.
I brought it to my locally owned framing/gift shop, and they promised to do their best to clean it up and restore it to as close to original as possible. They did a wonderful job, and that is the original frame. All of the notes he wrote on the backing and the cards as to when they were played and the money earned was kept intact. I couldn't be happier with the end result.
Now for two interesting facts:
(1) My grandfather's name on the backing is spelled differently than I have spelled my last name all my life, and differently than my uncles/aunts/etc. When I inquired as to why/how that was, I was informed by my uncle that my grandfather had "some issues with the IRS", and that after a certain point he started spelling his name differently to avoid detection. Gotta love an outlaw.....
(2) In the second royal flush from the top, the backs of cards are all red with the exception of the king of spades. His backing was a blackish/blue. I was informed of this by the ladies at the frame shop, who thought it was hilarious. Again, gotta love an outlaw.
It's my favorite piece of artwork in the basement. As of yet, I am unable to say that I have held a royal flush in a live card game for money. When I do, I shall begin putting mine together for my grandkids.
About a year ago, an uncle reached out to me. He had heard from my younger sister that I was interested in poker and that I had recently finished out the basement and had a table built. He told me that he had something in his attic that had belonged to his father (my grandfather) that he thought I would enjoy having in my poker room, and promised to put it in the mail.
When it arrived, it was clear that this had been sitting for quite some time. There was no glass, more than 1/2 of the cards had fallen off the backing and were loose (although all were present) and there was a layer of dust/grime covering everything that was not going to come off easily.
I brought it to my locally owned framing/gift shop, and they promised to do their best to clean it up and restore it to as close to original as possible. They did a wonderful job, and that is the original frame. All of the notes he wrote on the backing and the cards as to when they were played and the money earned was kept intact. I couldn't be happier with the end result.
Now for two interesting facts:
(1) My grandfather's name on the backing is spelled differently than I have spelled my last name all my life, and differently than my uncles/aunts/etc. When I inquired as to why/how that was, I was informed by my uncle that my grandfather had "some issues with the IRS", and that after a certain point he started spelling his name differently to avoid detection. Gotta love an outlaw.....
(2) In the second royal flush from the top, the backs of cards are all red with the exception of the king of spades. His backing was a blackish/blue. I was informed of this by the ladies at the frame shop, who thought it was hilarious. Again, gotta love an outlaw.
It's my favorite piece of artwork in the basement. As of yet, I am unable to say that I have held a royal flush in a live card game for money. When I do, I shall begin putting mine together for my grandkids.
