How to Cheat at Cards

I must confess, I really don't play cards. I can almost count to 20 but what the heck number is Jack??? Anyway, this post is not about poker, but about the cards you are dealt in life and how you can help others cheat them a little. Every day, people are dealt crappy hands....like mental handicapped for you (gee thanks), rare autoimmune thingy for you (sorry Big Bro), cancer for you, stroke, heart attack, layoff, etc etc. You get the picture. Unfortunately, you can't change these hands before they are dealt, you can only fold or bluff your way through them. Some people win that game, some lose. So let's get to the cheating part. You can play dealer every now and then, and stack the deck in favor of someone else. That's the catch...you have to deal to someone else. For instance, I was dealt the old 7-deuce off suit (look it up) which is pretty bad, but throughout my life I have been slipped a lot of Kings, Queens and Aces. No matter how temporary the game....a day, a week, years, a good hand is a good hand. So think about someone you know who is trying to bluff their way through life with a crappy hand, or worse yet, ready to fold, and deal them a good hand. Help them in any way you can afford whether it is with time or money. If you don't know anyone, or really want to help a family with the worst cards imaginable, read on for a suggestion.

Every year around this time, when everyone is loading up on food and gifts for the holidays, Big Bro, Big Sis and I help adopt a family through a wonderful non-profit called the Kelly Anne Dolan Memorial Fund. Kelly Anne Dolan was a little girl diagnosed with a rare form of leukemia. Her parents Peggy and Joe learned how the serious illness of a child can affect an entire family—emotionally, physically, and financially. After six-year-old Kelly lost her battle with the disease in 1976, Peggy and Joe created the Fund to help families dealing with the illness or disability of a child. Every year around the holidays, the Kelly Anne Dolan Holiday Adopt a Family program helps families who have been devastated by the emotional and financial fallout of a child suffering from serious health problems by lining up adopters who will buy gifts for these families who cannot buy them on their own. We are talking about everything from toys that kids wish for to gift cards so that these families can have a holiday meal or buy the barest of necessities. You get the family's story when you volunteer, and after reading just one of them, you will realize just how bad the deck has been shuffled for some people. So take some time as you prepare to spoil the ones you love this year, and deal a winning hand to someone who desperately needs it.