Research has shown that one great thing you can do to keep your mind sharp is play games. Crossword puzzles, sudoku, logic problems, and more — they’re all good for your brain.
My grandmother — who suffers from Alzheimer’s disease — resists many of the brain workouts we encourage her to do. One thing she’s always loved is playing Scrabble. Lucky for us, Scrabble is a good way to engage the brain… so we can get her to play on a daily basis.
The last time I was home for a visit, I sat down for a Scrabble game with my mother and grandmother. Now let me be totally honest here — I can count the number of times I’ve beat my grandmother at Scrabble on one hand. She is really good at the game. And even though the Alzheimer’s disease is progressing, she’s still really good at Scrabble.
We were nearing the end of the game, and all three of us were looking for places to stick our last few letters. Earlier, someone had made SOLO. When it got to be my grandmother’s turn, she tried to put an N on the end of solo.
My mom and I both called foul on that one. “You’re thinking of salon,” my mom said. “S-A-L-O-N.”
“Oh, okay,” my grandmother agreed, taking her N back. Another round passes and my grandmother again tries to put an N on the end of solo. Again my mom and I protested. “There’s no such thing as solon,” I said.
You can see where this is going. She put that N on the end of solo yet again. My mom and I were in hysterics by this point… but my grandmother started insisting that it was a real word. So to decide the matter once and for all, I looked it up.
According to the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, a solon is a wise lawgiver. (It’s also a town in Ohio and the name of a statesman in ancient Greece.)
I couldn’t believe it. “You don’t know what day it is, but you know SOLON?” We all went into hysterics.
My grandmother won the game, of course.