Memories of a Game Show Contestant

Have I ever shared the story of how I went on Family Feud to win the money to buy our first house?  Didn’t think I had.

What seems like ages ago, at a time when I had only been married 5 years (we are celebrating our 39th anniversary this Shabbat), and had two small daughters (our son wasn’t even a twinkle in either of our eyes) our income was modest.  It was a housing boom, and each month, property prices went up and up.  We were living with my in-laws, who were really good sports to accept the four of us and our dog!

We saved and saved, but we still had a way to go. So one night over dinner, I came up with this plan.  Our cousin, Myrna, had been a winning contestant on the Match Game, and I asked her to captain a team of cousins to compete on the Family Feud.

To make a long story short, at the age of 28, I got to kiss Richard Dawson five days in a row,   and my share of our winnings was just what we needed to buy our first house.

With Richard Dawson’s passing this week, I saw scenes from our show on his memorial on Entertainment Tonight.  On YouTube I found the episode when I won the grand prize.  I share these shows with affection and warmth for the host of Family Feud: To Richard Dawson, zikhrono livrakha, may his memory be a blessing.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSrFVPlqgZI&feature=em-share_video_user[/youtube]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pcIzdawA07w[/youtube]