Saturday, October 20, 2012
This just in: The Soldiers Home is still standing. I am the one who has wobbled.
I crashed Doreen’s VFW Auxiliary Bingo session today because I urgently needed to reconnect with the Soldiers Home and its residents—and to regain the perspective I gain every single time I’m there.
After I hugged Doreen and caught up, I noticed Ray McDade looking at me and holding his arms wide, wide open. I had emailed Ray last week to tell him I missed him and would see him soon, but nothing connects like a genuine hug from a genuine friend.
“I haven’t seen you for so long,” Ray said. (In my partial defense, I haven’t missed a scheduled Home Bingo—for some reason there is only one this month, and it’s not till next week—but in my partial indictment, that’s really not a very good defense.) At any rate, as I tried to explain my absence, I really did have to sit down.
“Well, you know I started working full-time,” I started. “And Carson was sick, and my parents were here for two weeks, and it’s golf season for Carson, and he turned 18…” Ray just smiled. And I hadn’t even told him the real wobbler: I am now legally, officially, court-sworn-and-signed divorced.
Deep breath.
It’s been a rather challenging stretch of life-changing transition, but now it’s time to stabilize. And reconnect.
These people make it easy.
Doug waved to me from across the room, and when I waved back, Dorothy waved back to me. I thumped Leo Martell on the shoulder and he said, as he does, “Hiya.” Gary C. came in a little late and asked me to please help him catch up his card. Billy called me over, and when I leaned down to hear him, he told me, “You get more beautiful every day.”
Doreen has switched her Bingo sessions to cash-only prizes, which simplifies the award process tremendously. Charlie was helping Chester, as he does, and every time Chester won a dollar, he’d thank me, lift off his “Hooked with Jesus” ballcap and stick his winnings inside. He had quite a bit of cash padding by the end of the day. Harriet had a good day, too—her pile of bills was topped by a $5 Blackout win. Dorothy laughed, “Harriet’s taking me out for steak and lobster.” I said, "One more win, and she can take us both."
Mary doesn’t play Bingo, but she came in to sit very sweetly and very closely next to George. During the first Blackout game, she called me over, and I leaned down to hear her whisper. “Your pants are down,” she told me. “You need to go to the bathroom and pull them up.”
I was a tiny bit confused. Actually, I had just come from the bathroom, and I was pretty sure I hadn’t forgotten anything quite so vital.
But I was wearing a longish shirt under a jacket, and it hit me that maybe the exposed shirttail looked like a wardrobe malfunction. I lifted my jacket and showed her the whole shirt, hoping that would resolve things, and she summoned me back down to her level.
“I’ve only raised boys,” she smiled. “Me too,” I said back.
After Bingo, David Fox and I went through our farewell ritual. “Carson, right?” he asked. “What has he been up to?” I said, “golf and school,” but David didn’t hear “school” the first few times. When he finally got it, he said, as he does, “Thank you for repeating it for me.”
Ray was very excited about his post-Bingo plans (a pumpkin-carving party with friends from church) but still stopped for another big hug.
“When will I see you again?” he asked.
“Soon,” I promised. “Friday is Home Bingo, and I will be here.”
Ray smiled. “It’s good to see you,” he said.
This just in: The Soldiers Home is still standing. I am the one who has wobbled.
I crashed Doreen’s VFW Auxiliary Bingo session today because I urgently needed to reconnect with the Soldiers Home and its residents—and to regain the perspective I gain every single time I’m there.
After I hugged Doreen and caught up, I noticed Ray McDade looking at me and holding his arms wide, wide open. I had emailed Ray last week to tell him I missed him and would see him soon, but nothing connects like a genuine hug from a genuine friend.
“I haven’t seen you for so long,” Ray said. (In my partial defense, I haven’t missed a scheduled Home Bingo—for some reason there is only one this month, and it’s not till next week—but in my partial indictment, that’s really not a very good defense.) At any rate, as I tried to explain my absence, I really did have to sit down.
“Well, you know I started working full-time,” I started. “And Carson was sick, and my parents were here for two weeks, and it’s golf season for Carson, and he turned 18…” Ray just smiled. And I hadn’t even told him the real wobbler: I am now legally, officially, court-sworn-and-signed divorced.
Deep breath.
It’s been a rather challenging stretch of life-changing transition, but now it’s time to stabilize. And reconnect.
These people make it easy.
Doug waved to me from across the room, and when I waved back, Dorothy waved back to me. I thumped Leo Martell on the shoulder and he said, as he does, “Hiya.” Gary C. came in a little late and asked me to please help him catch up his card. Billy called me over, and when I leaned down to hear him, he told me, “You get more beautiful every day.”
Doreen has switched her Bingo sessions to cash-only prizes, which simplifies the award process tremendously. Charlie was helping Chester, as he does, and every time Chester won a dollar, he’d thank me, lift off his “Hooked with Jesus” ballcap and stick his winnings inside. He had quite a bit of cash padding by the end of the day. Harriet had a good day, too—her pile of bills was topped by a $5 Blackout win. Dorothy laughed, “Harriet’s taking me out for steak and lobster.” I said, "One more win, and she can take us both."
Mary doesn’t play Bingo, but she came in to sit very sweetly and very closely next to George. During the first Blackout game, she called me over, and I leaned down to hear her whisper. “Your pants are down,” she told me. “You need to go to the bathroom and pull them up.”
I was a tiny bit confused. Actually, I had just come from the bathroom, and I was pretty sure I hadn’t forgotten anything quite so vital.
But I was wearing a longish shirt under a jacket, and it hit me that maybe the exposed shirttail looked like a wardrobe malfunction. I lifted my jacket and showed her the whole shirt, hoping that would resolve things, and she summoned me back down to her level.
“I’ve only raised boys,” she smiled. “Me too,” I said back.
After Bingo, David Fox and I went through our farewell ritual. “Carson, right?” he asked. “What has he been up to?” I said, “golf and school,” but David didn’t hear “school” the first few times. When he finally got it, he said, as he does, “Thank you for repeating it for me.”
Ray was very excited about his post-Bingo plans (a pumpkin-carving party with friends from church) but still stopped for another big hug.
“When will I see you again?” he asked.
“Soon,” I promised. “Friday is Home Bingo, and I will be here.”
Ray smiled. “It’s good to see you,” he said.
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