Lakeview Seniors Bingo

Location: Lakeview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center

Date: Monday, February 04, 2013; 6:30-7:45 pm

A bevy of dogs welcomed me to Lakeview Nursing when I arrived for the Bingo session.  They were of course in attendance for the ‘Pet Therapy’ project and as is the case on Monday’s, the place was crowded.  The Bingo group started coming in and as soon as I saw Emma, I made my way to her table.  Maureen, our Volunteer leader may have had other plans for me, but I told her that I wanted to work with Emma and that was that.  Besides her, our table had a full house with Kadence, Pam and Jack, from ‘What’s The Word’.  I squeezed in next to Emma and asked her if she remembered the cards that we had made the previous day.  She said that someone had given her three cards and I said that it was me.  Well, even if she did not remember me, I was glad that she was aware of the cards.

The regular caller was late coming in, and Maureen was looking for volunteers.  She even asked me if I would do it, but there was no way I wanted to leave Emma, especially since I was determined to win with her.  Due to the late start the room was quite chatty and Pam, who was wearing bright pink and  is quite feisty, kept complaining that no one was playing.  I said it’s because the caller was missing, but she said that the residents just loved talking.  If it were up to her, she would tape everyone’s mouth and only open for them to yell “Bingo!”  I knew were going to have an entertaining evening with her around. 

Bingo Time

Finally, we began and everyone put on their ‘game face’.  Emma was intense as ever, Jack was quite relaxed, Kadence looked like she wanted to be left along and Pam was mumbling.  She kept calling Emma ‘Grandma’, something which Emma either did not hear or was ignoring.  Put a Bingo card in front of her and all bets are off.  I kept looking at Emma’s cards and helped in pointing out the numbers that were being called.  Emma likes to keep her chips in hand and every time she ran out, she would ask me to pass her a few.  She was quite alert and on several occasions corrected me when I had either missed a number or heard incorrectly.  However, as the night went on, everyone was winning but us.

I was beginning to think that I was cursed and pairing up with me may not be in Emma’s best interest.  Thandie, who was with us the last time and had failed to win, was at another table and had won twice.  I thought the others at my table would go empty handed this time, but then Jack won, followed by Kadence.  I was desperate to get Emma a win and lo and behold, there it was.  I yelled ‘Bingo’, and as I called the numbers, to my horror I realized that I had made a mistake.  Now, there is no greater shame than a false alarm at Bingo and I immediately lost all credibility with the room.  While I continued to watch, I did shrink back a bit in my chair, though Emma was focused.  My error was not going to deter her.

One of the funny parts of playing Bingo at Lakeview on Monday is when No. 50 is called.  There is a gentleman named Kenny, who seems to be a big fan of the TV show ‘Hawaii Five-O’.  Each time 50 is called, he will say aloud, “CBS Channel 2 at 9 pm”.  This never got old and made me chuckle every time.  In fact, if he did not say it, people would look at him till he repeated his line.  He is one guy who truly enjoys the game.  Not so much at our table, where winning is all that matters.  Besides Emma, Pam was empty-handed as well.  She looked at me and said that she would be better off going out and getting drunk.  “That way at least I will see the numbers better”, she said as I laughed.  But the night was coming to a close and we had only three games left when it happened.  Emma won.  I was scared to call the numbers, but this time there were no mistakes. It had taken us almost two visits, but we had won together.  Her prize was a dollar bill and Emma clutched it in her hands as if it was the most precious thing ever.  She told me that she likes to have money in her purse and at that moment, I remembered an incident from decades ago.  When I was a boy, I remember my Great-Grandmother, who looked a bit like Emma, handing out money from her purse.  I often used to wonder where it all came from, but she never let us leave empty handed.  Looking at Emma clenching her fist around the dollar bill was a sight that had made the wait worthwhile.  And that wasn’t the end.  We won again on the next game.

The curse had been broken and now it was time to go.  Emma said that she wanted to keep the money safe, because there had been some thefts.  I was perplexed, but Jack confirmed that he too had some money unaccounted for.  I hope for their sake that they had just misplaced it and it's a misunderstanding.  I was not going to be back for Bingo next week and I wanted to give Emma something.  I asked her last name and before I walked out, inquired with the receptionist if I could send some flowers for Emma.  They had no issues with it and that night I ordered flowers for Emma, to be delivered on Valentine’s Day.  I don’t know if she will notice or even remember; but even if it brings a moment's joy to her - just as that dollar bill had - it would be the best Valentine’s day present I have ever given out. 


*All the client's names have been changed in order to respect their privacy