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Charlotte Roseman, 90, looks at her partner, Elizabeth Hess, while pondering her next move in a bridge game at the Bridge Boardroom in Springettsbury Township. |
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IntroductionIf York's close-knit community of bridge players were a family, then Charlotte Roseman would be its grandma. But she's not the type of grandma who forgets your name and sits meekly in a corner. No, Roseman is the type of grandma who welcomes you warmly to join her for a game of cards — then soundly beats you, all while maintaining a polite and delighted smile.
Roseman, who recently turned 90, has played bridge for more than 50 years. During that time, she tutored or played cards with just about every other player in the county, says Marti Ronemus, owner of the Bridge Boardroom in Springettsbury Township.
"Charlotte has done more for bridge in York County than anyone else because of her love for the game and willingness to share that love," Ronemus says.
Roseman, however, says bridge has done more for her than the other way around. She credits bridge for keeping her mind sharp and her memory clear.
"It is fascinating; it's energizing; it's healthy. That's true," Roseman says. "It's great for your brain."
Maintain Your BrainExperts tend to agree. The Alzheimer's Association's "Maintain Your Brain" campaign lists playing games to keep brains active and engaged as a way to help ward off disorders like Alzheimer's. Along with that, the association also says connecting with others socially can help prevent dementia. Being a part of local bridge clubs has afforded Roseman both.
Keeping a brain healthy means treating it a bit like a muscle, says Lynn Stern, a senior clinical social worker with Turner Geriatric Clinic, University of Michigan Geriatrics Center in Ann Arbor, Mich., and co-author of "Improving Your Memory: How to Remember What You're Starting to Forget." Brains need regular exercise, she says.
"Whatever you do is helpful," says Stern, adding that having an upbeat attitude like Roseman's is also important. "If you don't try these things, you're just giving up."
Playing Bridge Is Exercise for the BrainAfter a half-century of playing, Roseman still buys books and studies the game.
"I believe people sometimes lose interest at some point in life when they shouldn't," Roseman says. "But bridge ... just keeps me moving. There isn't an end to learning how to be a better bridge player. You can always improve yourself."
Playing bridge requires strategy, mathematics and socializing, Ronemus says. Plus, if you're playing in the Bridge Boardroom, it requires thinking while under the distraction of laughter, cheers and talk from other players.
Part of the challenge to bridge is the never-ending possibilities. Millions of scenarios are dealt with each deck of hands. Ronemus says that there are more decisions in a hand of bridge than in a game of chess — plus players have to deal with partners.
"What makes bridge personally exceptionally challenging is that it is so multidimensional. Math is important. You also have to work with the psychology of the people you are playing against," Ronemus says. "You have to know who you can take advantage of and who you can't. You have to have a great sense of proportion."
While activities like playing bridge may help prevent dementia, it is important not to blame those who already have it by thinking that if only they had been more active, more social or more inquisitive they could've stopped it, Stern says.
"You can't negate the piece that's just your brain. Alzheimer's disease is a disease," she says. "Nothing is going to stave it off completely."
But if you're looking to improve your memory, don't wait until you are a senior citizen, Stern says.
"I don't think that this is an aging issue, but it is something that aging people worry about," Stern says.
Roseman was 35 years old when she started playing bridge at the Red Lion Country Club. She began playing the three-hour games once a week, then three times and eventually four times a week. She started teaching others how to play in 1967.
As a director at the Board- room, Roseman also was responsible for getting the players to the right table on time, setting up a game and refereeing any issues that arose. As a player, she continues to be fascinated by what 52 cards can offer.
Roseman once called Ronemus at 10:30 p.m. because she had a hand she didn't know what to do with. "She picks up a hand and falls in love with it," Ronemus says.
Ronemus agrees with Roseman that bridge may be the ticket to keeping a strong memory. "My brain would've turned to pudding years ago if it weren't for bridge," says Ronemus, who adds that when she doesn't play for a couple weeks, she has trouble staying focused through the whole three-hour game. "It's not that you forget how to play the game, but you lose the ability to focus."
Roseman has no intention of testing that theory. She plays about twice a week and continues to teach private lessons. And, despite being 90 years old, Roseman says there is no end in sight to her bridge playing.
After all, she says, her great-grandmother lived to be 92. "We live 10 years longer now, so I'll be around until 102," she says. "How do you like that?"
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