What We Talk About When We Talk About Mahjong

“My mother taught me. Her mother taught her. When I sit down at the table I feel all of them there with me. That sounds dramatic but it's just true.”

Diane plays three mornings a week with the same group she's had for twenty-two years. Two of the original four have passed. Two new people joined. She says learning to pivot in life helps you pivot during the game.

“I learned during the pandemic. I was living alone and I found an online group and then I couldn't stop. It gave me a reason to show up somewhere, even virtually.”

Priya now hosts a monthly game night that started with four people and has somehow turned into a rotating group of twelve. She says Mahjong is responsible for at least half her close friendships in her thirties.

“We've solved every problem at this table. Marriages, divorces, kids, health scares. The tiles just keep moving and somehow that helps.”

Carol and Ruth met at a community center class and have played together every Tuesday since. They finish each other's sentences. Sometimes each other's hands too.

“My girlfriend's grandmother taught me. I was the only one at the table who didn't know what I was doing and everyone was so patient. I've never felt more welcomed into something.”

Marcus is now the one teaching newcomers at his building's monthly game. He says the patience people showed him is the main thing he wants to pass on.

“It's the one hour of the week where I'm not a mother or a boss or a patient or a caretaker. I'm just a player. That's more important than I can explain.”

Linda plays Thursday evenings. She says she's missed exactly four games in twenty years — two for surgeries, one for a funeral, one for a wedding. "The wedding was a close call," she says.