After my divorce I went through a phase of saying yes to every invitation, which is how a homebody like me ended up at a casino night with my sister's book club. I'm still not sure how that happened. Before going I did my due diligence — I'm an accountant, it's how I cope — and the Casino Langley overview told me everything practical I needed to know. The evening itself was unexpectedly fun. I don't know these women well but there's something about a shared slot machine that speeds up friendship. I lost my thirty dollars slowly and happily while listening to drama about someone named Brenda. I've now been invited to join the club officially. Apparently my blackjack cheerfulness outweighed my lack of literary opinions. Divorce recovery, one weird social experiment at a time.