Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1959-10-28

My mother-1n-law Maggy
was a sport. She thought
that her daughter was out of
her mind to marry me, but
Maggy was sporting enough
to come and live with us for
20 years. I admired her be-
cause she would take a
chance on anything. Take
. chance" she used to say.
Half your life is bluff any
way"
She was 5 feet tall and
weighed 100 pounds. Her face
was moonlike, with shrewd
blue eyes, a figure like q
runaway railroad, and a nose
about the size of a worn
dime. If she was taken to q
bar for a highball, Maggy
was first up with the money
and the last to leave. Like
my father, she loved con-
genial company.
When the Dodgers were in
Brooklyn, Margaret Lanigan
Dunning rooted for them to
win every game. She never
gave up on them. If they
were q run behind, she drew
her rosary out Of her house.
coat pocket and prayed for
two. Once, I wanted to take
her to see them play and
she was sad and reluctant
about it. I asked why. WELL"
she said, "I'll tell you the
truth. I've been listening to
them on my little radio for
years. I have my own idea
of what the diamond looks
like. If it turns out to be
any different, Jim, I'm going
to be awfully mixed up"
"COME ON, ANYWAY" I
said; half your life is bluff"
We had a pair of front box
seats. The diamond turned
out to be as she figured it
would be. She was rs years
old and she whooped and hol-
Tered through the game like
Q Wexford banshee. She per-
Spired so much that her gray
hair was plastered against
her forehead. Two Of her
favorites - Cookie Lavagetto
and Carl Furillo-got hits.
The Dodgers won. I took
her to Cavanaugh's afterward
for roast beef. I tossed a
couple of daiquiris into Maggy
and she phoned her daughter
and said: Listen. This is the
greatest day since I married
Frank"
If the insurance man, col
lecting his weekly 50 from
her, mentioned a horse,
Maggy wanted to bet. She
never bet more than 50. I
asked where I would find
"a bookie. How would I
know" she would shrek. "If
I was a man, I'd ask in a bar
Der shop" 1t turned out to be
the right place.
Once, I taught her how to
play poker. She had a big jar
of pennies, and she brought
them down and I showed her
how to match a pair of
queens, three of a kind. a full
house, and so forth. We
played for a while. Maggy
was winning. Once, after
everybody passed, she grinned
at me. II was hoping you'd
open," she said.
What did you have?" I
said, afraid of the answer. IT
had four tens" she said. I
kicked the leg of the table.
"Why didn't you open?" I
said. She snorted in disgust.
you told me-" she said,
"jacks or better"
Elinor and I taught her to
shoot dice and she took all
our pennies. At last, I made
her bounce the cubes off the
back of the kitchen drain
board, but she continued to
win. "This is a good game"
she said to her daughter. II
really like this one. It's quick"
MACY NEVER HAD
much money. Toward the
end, she was living on $48 a
month from her late hus-
bands Spanish American
War pension. viewer,
Maggy never passed a beggar
on the street, a blind man. a
nun, without offering some
thing. Her speciality was
overlapping mattresses. "Ah,
the poor thing" she'd say.
"She has to work hard for
the little she gets"
She had unequivocal faith