it occurred to me to ask

"Who knows how to play hopscotch?" I ask.

Do children still play hopscotch? I don't know.

Most eagerly raise their hands. "I do!"

In Friendly's last night, as we laugh loudly, a mother walks over with a tiny girl. "She says she recognized one of you as her gymnastics teacher."

Usually running around the gym heedless of anyone's instruction, the child's face is stiffened with embarrassment, but her eyes are intense.

"I have her!" I say.

Games may change. Feelings, never.