Gail Greenberg with her family: (standing) husband Jack Greenberg, son-in-law Bobby Levin, daughter Jill Levin, son Brad Moss, daughter-in-law Jennifer Moss, bridge and business partner Jeff Hand, granddaughter-in-law Sandra Rimstedt, grandson Shane Blanchard; (seated) sister-in-law Jill Greenberg, grandson Cian Moss, Gail Greenberg, great-grandson Odin Blanchard, granddaughter Lyra Moss; (not pictured) Andrew Moss, Danya Moss, Sofia Moss and Devin Moss.
There was no question about the location for the birthday gathering. Greenberg has celebrated all of her birthdays since 1966 at NABCs; the last time she missed an NABC was San Francisco in 1965.
For all those years, the Fall NABC has also been where her family holds its Thanksgiving dinner. It’s an easy decision when almost all of them play bridge. Greenberg’s children include Jill Levin and Brad Moss, both world champions like their mother, and Andrew Moss, a former King of Bridge. Jill is married to Hall of Famer and world champion Bobby Levin, and her son Shane Blanchard, an NABC champ, is married to Sandra Rimstedt, yet another world champion. Collectively the group has 75 NABC titles and 16 world gold medals.
“I have a fourth child who doesn’t play bridge,” Greenberg said. “If she ever wanted to have Thanksgiving dinner with the family, she had to find out where the Fall NABC was.”
Getting everyone together in a different location every year requires some planning. They research local restaurants to find out what’s open on the holiday and has a private room available for their large group.
It wasn’t Greenberg’s plan to have a family full of bridge players. “I was always opposed to children taking up bridge,” she says. “Bridge is better for people in their middle and later years. I had seen too many bright young people get waylaid by bridge.”
Accordingly, she tried to forbid her children from playing. They didn’t listen.
That pattern is starting to repeat itself in the next generation. Though Brad has tried to prevent his children from getting into bridge, his son Cian, 11, has been trying to learn. On Friday Cian played his first game ever with his uncle Andrew in the evening side game. Despite finishing last, “he had a wonderful experience,” Greenberg said.
Despite her protests, it’s clear she’s pleased so many in her family share her passion for the game.
After losing the battle against bridge, Greenberg had one other “rule” for her children when they became adults, and they ended up breaking that one too. “I wanted to keep everyone in New York,” she said. Jill lives in Las Vegas, Brad in Denver and Andrew near San Francisco.
At least she can count on seeing everyone at the NABCs.
“We have a wonderfully close-knit family,” Greenberg says. “This is a great chance for us to get together.”