Saturday, November 10, 2012
When I pulled into the Soldiers Home parking lot today, I saw Doreen’s car and thought, “Yay. Bingo help!” Then I walked in to the Bingo room and thought, “Wow. That’s a lot of Bingo help. I really don’t need to be here.”
Doreen was, in fact, helping out at Home Bingo. And so was Terry. And a new guy I’d never met. And a teenage girl I’d never met. And Matt was calling numbers. And Erin from Activities was taking attendance. All together, we practically could have done one-on-one Bingo tutoring.
Ray McDade was not there, though, so I parked my purse with Dorothy, told Harriet I liked her fall-leaves sweatshirt and walked behind David Fox to rub his shoulder. He jumped 10 feet.
“You snuck up on me, but it’s worth it!” David said loudly. “I mean it! It makes my day to see you.”
I said hi all around and snapped the stretchy key band on Leo Martell’s wrist. Leo is a big, burly gruff-sounding guy but has more than one soft spot. For his first Bingo win, he picked a plush stuffed elephant. “May I pet him?” I asked. And great-big Leo said in a very funny (on purpose) little-boy voice: “I got a little elephant.”
After the first Blackout, I asked Terry whether he wanted to keep pushing the prize cart for the second half. He put his arm around me. “I’m tired of pushing the prize cart,” he laughed. So I took over.
One of my favorite parts about pushing the prize cart is knowing the residents well enough to know what they’re going to pick. When Leo won again, I didn’t even get close to his table. I just tossed him the stuffed green frog, and he smiled like a kid. “Now I’ve got a soft frog,” he laughed.
David won, too, and as he was looking over his options, I picked up the Old Spice deodorant and did a flowery Vanna White presentation. He snatched it and smiled. “People are going to think we’ve got something going on,” he said, just loudly enough for everyone to wonder whether we just might have something going on.
A younger man walked in and sat down and accepted a little tenuously when I offered a Bingo card. He won quickly and picked a Gatorade, but the next time I wheeled by, he called me over. “I didn’t see that wallet on there,” he said. “Want to trade?” I asked. Doreen was watching us, and she usually doesn’t like it when residents trade prizes. I took back the Gatorade and slipped him the wallet. “Shhh,” I said, looking at Doreen. “Don’t tell anyone.” Doreen smiled. And Chuck, who was sitting right there, wanted the Gatorade as his prize, anyway, so everyone won in the end.
When Bingo ended, David called me over to go through our farewell ritual. The family OK? The house OK? When will I see you again? I told him I’d see him at the Veterans Day ceremony, and when he asked me the time and date, I could almost see him etching them on his memory. “I look forward to seeing you again,” he said. “I mean it!”
I know he does. And the feeling is mutual. Which is why, even on a help-heavy day of Bingo, I absolutely needed to be here.
When I pulled into the Soldiers Home parking lot today, I saw Doreen’s car and thought, “Yay. Bingo help!” Then I walked in to the Bingo room and thought, “Wow. That’s a lot of Bingo help. I really don’t need to be here.”
Doreen was, in fact, helping out at Home Bingo. And so was Terry. And a new guy I’d never met. And a teenage girl I’d never met. And Matt was calling numbers. And Erin from Activities was taking attendance. All together, we practically could have done one-on-one Bingo tutoring.
Ray McDade was not there, though, so I parked my purse with Dorothy, told Harriet I liked her fall-leaves sweatshirt and walked behind David Fox to rub his shoulder. He jumped 10 feet.
“You snuck up on me, but it’s worth it!” David said loudly. “I mean it! It makes my day to see you.”
I said hi all around and snapped the stretchy key band on Leo Martell’s wrist. Leo is a big, burly gruff-sounding guy but has more than one soft spot. For his first Bingo win, he picked a plush stuffed elephant. “May I pet him?” I asked. And great-big Leo said in a very funny (on purpose) little-boy voice: “I got a little elephant.”
After the first Blackout, I asked Terry whether he wanted to keep pushing the prize cart for the second half. He put his arm around me. “I’m tired of pushing the prize cart,” he laughed. So I took over.
One of my favorite parts about pushing the prize cart is knowing the residents well enough to know what they’re going to pick. When Leo won again, I didn’t even get close to his table. I just tossed him the stuffed green frog, and he smiled like a kid. “Now I’ve got a soft frog,” he laughed.
David won, too, and as he was looking over his options, I picked up the Old Spice deodorant and did a flowery Vanna White presentation. He snatched it and smiled. “People are going to think we’ve got something going on,” he said, just loudly enough for everyone to wonder whether we just might have something going on.
A younger man walked in and sat down and accepted a little tenuously when I offered a Bingo card. He won quickly and picked a Gatorade, but the next time I wheeled by, he called me over. “I didn’t see that wallet on there,” he said. “Want to trade?” I asked. Doreen was watching us, and she usually doesn’t like it when residents trade prizes. I took back the Gatorade and slipped him the wallet. “Shhh,” I said, looking at Doreen. “Don’t tell anyone.” Doreen smiled. And Chuck, who was sitting right there, wanted the Gatorade as his prize, anyway, so everyone won in the end.
When Bingo ended, David called me over to go through our farewell ritual. The family OK? The house OK? When will I see you again? I told him I’d see him at the Veterans Day ceremony, and when he asked me the time and date, I could almost see him etching them on his memory. “I look forward to seeing you again,” he said. “I mean it!”
I know he does. And the feeling is mutual. Which is why, even on a help-heavy day of Bingo, I absolutely needed to be here.
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