For Lori Landis and Denise Goldstein, neighbors inside the Greystone community, mahjong started as a curiosity and grew into something they couldn't put down.
Lori first attended an introductory class at the Legacy Clubhouse.
"I really left that class thinking this was not for me," she says. "But it's a really pretty game, the tiles, the tablecloths. Little by little, we got groups together and started playing. Now I think at the Club you could play every day if you wanted to with someone."
Denise came to it differently. Recovering from shoulder surgery, she had time and a willing teacher: Lori started coming over twice a week.
"She said, 'Have you ever played Maj?'" Denise remembers. "And I said, 'No, but I know what it is.' So she started coming over while I was recuperating and teaching me how to play."
Within weeks, two friends became four. A woman who'd called to check on Denise's recovery heard Lori was teaching mahjong and asked if she could come on Thursday. Then another member from the Greystone Ladies Club wanted in. The four became a regular group.
Denise has been living inside the Greystone community for years, and still finds herself meeting people she'd never crossed paths with.
"I play golf, so I have a life over here with Greystone," she says. "But coming into Maj, I met some women who don't play golf, they may have been in Greystone for a long time, but that's not their niche. So I'm meeting new people in that area."
The groups themselves reflect that range. Retirees play weekday mornings, younger moms work around school pickups, and couples learn together. A new mom recently reached out on the group chat looking to meet people before she'd even fully settled in, and the mahjong community responded immediately.
"There's different groups of people for everyone," Lori says. "You can be as involved as you want or not."
Beginners sit at beginner tables and competitive players keep score at their own. The only real rule is patience — and the community has plenty of it.
"It's challenging and it's different and there's so many possibilities," Lori says.
"You have to pay attention to what the other people are doing and throwing away or passing to you. There are defensive ways to play." Denise agrees.
They both agree that you need to be fully present in a game — no distractions.
"Your mind really works," she says. "You're keeping yourself in tune to what's going on in that specific situation right at that moment."
It's that engagement that makes it stick. Unlike scrolling a phone or watching something on TV, mahjong holds your full attention. When you finally win a hand (or sacrifice your tiles to keep someone else from winning theirs), there's a satisfaction that keeps people coming back.
There are now groups meeting regularly — Monday, Wednesday and Friday groups — along with informal gatherings that pop up throughout the week. The husbands join in, too. Couples groups have formed. Small tournaments are happening all over.
The growth has been fast. "They're seeing this big influx of women coming in and they're like, 'Whoa, where are we going to put you?'" Denise says.
That's a good problem to have. It shows a robust community where members are finding things that matter to them and showing up.
Lori is already thinking about what comes next. She'd like to see the Greystone mahjong community play against groups from other clubs, the way tennis and golf do — trading tables and friendly competition across Birmingham's private club circuit.
For anyone curious about the game, Lori says, “don't let the card intimidate you.” Sit with the tiles first, make the hands so you can see what they look like, and let your brain learn to read it. If you need a place to start, meet with some of the groups forming at Greystone right now.