The woman who has kept the same Thursday for years.
Stacey White went looking for a bridge class in Houston, found the classes full, and took a mahjong class instead. She met a group of players there, and they have gathered every Thursday since, for years. In April 2023 she ran a tournament for Family Legacy in Houston, looked out at ten beginner tables and thirty experienced players, and understood what she was for. The Mahjong House grew from that afternoon.
She now runs beginner, refresh and guided play lessons, a Houston Mahjong League, parties, corporate events and fundraisers, and a shop of tiles, mats and racks. She has watched her tables carry people through marriages and divorces, cancer treatments, graduations and losses, and she has said it best herself: "That's the magic of Mahjong. It's more than a game. It's a way to belong."
Written from what the letter said. Read the letter for the whole of it.