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4A Daily News – Saturday, March 31, 2012 Glory Days & maturity By Cassandra Spratling Detroit Free Press (MCT) DETROIT — Let's get one thing straight, Lenora Gregory is quick to tell you: "I am not a grandmother." Yes she boasts three grandchil- dren. But grandmother and grand- ma? Those are not words she takes to. "I'm a nana," Gregory says. "When you say grandmother, to me, I'm seeing an older person," Gregory says. "I consider myself a young grandma and I'm cute. I'm a grandmother who's in cougar mode. I'm the lady who when I walk in church, all the heads turn." Gregory quickly adds that she's joking about the cougar thing — she is happily married to Kenneth Gregory — but she's serious about not being a typical grandmother. And she has lots of company, says Dr. Georgia Witkin, author of the new book, "The Modern Grandparent's Handbook: The Ultimate Guide to the New Rules of Grandparenting," (New Ameri- can Library, $15). The average age for a first-time grandparent is 48, Witkin writes in her book. Whether they work or not, grandparents are busy, active people. They're shaking their bod- ies in Zumba classes, running marathons, biking from suburbs into the city and back, and chatting with friends and family, far and near, on Facebook. And some grandmothers, like Gregory of Southfield, Mich., are even abandoning the traditional moniker for names that better fit Grandma Names GG GaGa G-mom Glamama Grandie Granita MamaMia Go-Go Source: "The Modern Grandparent's Handbook: The Ultimate Guide to the New Rules of Grandparenting," by Georgia Witkin (New American Library, $15) their personalities and lifestyles, such as Grand, GiGi or Nana . "Not only is today's grandma young, vital and vibrant, she's is likely to be a grandmother at least 50 percent of her life," Witkin says. "She's dating, dancing, play- ing tennis, shopping like crazy, very involved in charities and most are still working." Metro Detroit doctor Stephanie Lucas attributes the new thinking about grandmothers to the healthi- er lifestyles of baby boomers. "I tell my patients 60 is the new 40, and they really are amazing in the sense that they have overcome medical conditions and are living life to the fullest," says Lucas, a grandmother of two . "People are living much better and thus are able to be more active. I can't imagine my grand- mother doing Zumba, yoga or rid- ing a bicycle 60 or 70 miles, yet many grandmothers are doing those things today." Even values have changed with current generations. "Some of our grandparents lifestyles New-age Grandma She's fitting in time with grandkids between marathons and Facebook "When I think of a grandmoth- er I think of someone who cooks and cleans, a domestic grand- mother who was more like my grandmothers, who were from the old school," Bradley says. "But I'm a direct contrast. I do MCT photo Lenora Gregory participates in a Zumba class in South- field, Michigan. Gregory is a grandmother who keeps to an active, happy life and considers herself a young grandma. never got divorced and would be horrified when their children got divorced. Now grandparents are getting divorced and many are remarrying," says Witkin, a grand- mother of three. Witkin and Lucas, an internal medicine specialist at both Beau- mont and St. John hospitals, say the role of grandmothers in today's society varies tremendously. Some are the primary caregivers, while others swoop in, spend some time, and then swoop out. Others have lots of free time to spend on themselves or their grandchildren. "I have to tell my daughter sometimes, 'The key word is grand, not mother,' " says Gregory, 58, a retired Ford Motor Co. exec- utive assistant who's Nana to Patrick, 19, Kaelan, 14, and Moya, 7 . Michele Bradley, 57, of Oak Park, Mich., doesn't mind being called grandma, but she might mind if one of her three children called her about baby-sitting any of her eight grandchildren when she's getting ready to go bike rid- ing. "I can out bike and out swim my children and my grandchil- dren," says Bradley, who admits her ideas about grandparenting have evolved from when she was a child. not enjoy cooking. I find no plea- sure in domestic things. I do it because it's mandatory. I'm an out- doors person." Bradley sees her role as "back- up or second shift" caregiver, but both her children and grandchil- dren know she's not a homebody. Vanessa Wyatt, who says she usually admits to being 37 years old although she's actually 57, keeps in close touch with her three granddaughters, ages 19, 14 and 9, who live in Toledo. They visit one another almost every weekend — and then there are texts and Facebook, which helps them keep tabs on each other. "They call me Ga-Ga," says Wyatt, a Detroit police sergeant for community relations. "I'm the fun kind of grandma. I clown a lot. When they're over, I might be in the kitchen cooking, but I'm singing and dancing and they're right along with me." Wyatt says she and her grand- daughters enjoy bowling, dining out, going to water parks and even jumping on the trampoline in her backyard. "I remember jumping out there and my neighbor just couldn't believe it when he saw me going up higher than his fence," Wyatt says. Domino effect consumes a Texas town By Molly Hennessy-Fiske Los Angeles Times (MCT) HALLETTSVILLE, Texas — The older man in the Dallas Cowboys cap and plaid western shirt swirled dominoes across the glossy card table. Dozens of players did the same and a cacophony rose from the tables arranged across the Knights of Columbus Hall. "Are you enjoying beat- ing us old folks?" 70-year- old Louis Eames asked above the din. One of his opponents at the table, Jody Badum, 40, smiled so wide his beard met his sideburns. "Louis," he said. "I'd write it on a bathroom wall if I had a pen." The men shared a laugh and then turned to serious business — this month's Texas State Championship 42 Domino Tournament, which drew 77 two-person teams from across the state. The game, sometimes called "Texas 42" or simply "42," is uniquely Texan, with domino tiles used like a deck of cards. Typically MCT photo Domino team Jody Badum, right, and Aaron Kuntschik, left, face off against Jean Eddings, front, and Goodie Kelly during the Texas State Championship 42 Domino Tournament in Hal- lettsville,Texas. played by old-timers, it's now drawing a new genera- tion, which explained the presence of Badum. The owner of an Internet service provider company in cosmopolitan Austin, Badum wore a blue button- down shirt, jeans and rock- abilly motorcycle boots. Eames, a rancher from rural Leona, wore boots too _ the cowboy variety. "You already beat us in the morning," Eames said, referring to qualifying rounds. "I'd rather beat you in the afternoon," Badum said, referring to the finals. Eames chuckled as they drew their dominoes. "I just can't get over his respect for his elders." Texas 42 was conceived in 1887, the story goes, by a pair of inventive Fort Worth-area boys whose strict Baptist father forbade card playing. Technically not playing cards, they devised a game using a set of dominoes that resembles bridge and other "trick-tak- ing" games, such as spades. The boys even designat- ed "suits" — all tiles with a 6, for example, belong to the same suit — and teams play for points. The highest number of points possible in a hand is 42, hence the name. In time, the game spread statewide. "If you learned it," Badum said, "you learned it from a Texan." Though a mobile gener- ation and Internet versions have allowed the game to migrate out of state, it's still mostly a Lone Star pastime. "This game is played in vir- tually every senior center in Texas every day," said Nick Carter, 66, secretary of the National 42 Players Associ- ation. For Texans living else- where, it's a reminder of home. Molly Piskun, an office manager in Los Angeles, flies back each year to compete with her partner, Patricia "Patty" Cutshaver, an emergency room nurse from College Station. "Everything else in our lives outside this tourna- ment has changed — fami- ly, work — but we come here and nothing has changed," Cutshaver said. And they all speak the same language — not just Texan, but the domino dialect. Tiles are "rocks." The blank is "Little Willy." The top three dominoes in a suit are the bull, cow and calf. The more valuable domi- noes that add up to five are nickels; tens are dimes; threes are treys. The 6:3 is the "Devil Domino" — as in three sixes. Eavesdropping on play- ers requires a translator until you experience what Badum calls "the click" of comprehension. "I had a six ace for an off and I walked it." "I keep throwing count — I've got a lot of grease over here." "My four was protected until you made treys trump." The game is complex and, to the uninitiated, often bewildering. But that's also part of 42's clubby appeal, its connection to Texas pride and family. Badum's partner, Aaron Kuntschik, 39, a handy- man, grew up near Hal- lettsville playing dominoes with his parents. He taught it to his sons and joined a fledgling 42 club seven years ago in Austin. The club started with eight teams, mostly playing at dive bars like Ginny's Little Longhorn Saloon and Billy's on Burnet. They quickly attracted more teams, as many as 37 this year, outgrowing the largest space Kuntschik, now club director, could find: Dart Bowl, a bowling alley. Being from the capital, where many embrace the slogan "Keep Austin Weird," the club put a spin on the game, adopting team names like Obviously Not Golfers, Eye Candy and Squirrel Assassins. 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