Lakeview Seniors Bingo

Location: Lakeview Nursing and Rehabilitation Center

Date: Monday, March 18, 2013; 6:30 pm-7:45 pm

It had been a long day at work and I was not in the best of spirits as I headed towards Lakeview Nursing.  However, while on the train, I got an email from Chicago Cares asking if I would be interested in being a ‘Primary Leader’ for ‘Serve-A-Thon’; Chicago Cares’ largest single day of community service.  I had participated as a Volunteer Leader for MLK Celebration of Service, but now they wanted me to be a Primary Leader, who would be responsible for managing the project through other Volunteer Leaders on their team.  This was a huge responsibility and a tremendous privilege.  I accepted readily and arrived at my destination with a greatly improved mood. 

Here we go again

I walked in to see that Emma and Valerie were already seated at a table along with another gentleman who introduced himself as Harry.  I asked Emma how she was doing and she said that someone had left the windows in her room open and now her hands were cold.  I said it would be Spring soon and she would not have to worry about a cold draft to which she agreed enthusiastically.  I asked her about the Strawberry treats that she had gotten last week and she said that they were very good and she still had some left.  I then asked Harry if he was looking forward to playing Bingo and he said that he was getting discharged at the end of the month and thus wanted to win.  Harry wanted to know when the dogs were coming and it was indeed a good question.  There was no sign of them yet. 

Soon our Volunteer leader Lori arrived, along with other volunteers Carly – whom I had met at Flannery Apartments – and Lisa – whom I had met at Pat Crowley House.  No sooner had we settled down, than the dogs arrived.  I saw Sam walk in with Shane and he asked if I had gotten my puppy yet.  Jess followed with Chloe and showed me a bagful of gum that she had brought for Jean.  There appeared to be every flavor imaginable and I did not even know that so many flavors existed.  After mingling with the residents for some time, the dogs and the pet owners left for their project and we were ready to begin, with Jim calling the game.  We had also been joined at our table by Beatrice.  I asked her if she liked dogs and she said she’s from the South and grew up with farm animals.  She said she did not want to bother with cats and dogs.  It seemed like I was going to have fun with Beatrice around. 

Jim usually starts the evening with some trivia statistics and said that in his many years of calling a Bingo game at this location, he had never see a table win as many games as Jim, Jack and Larry’s table had done the previous week.  I said that it was because I wasn't here and while that drew some laughs, I had better deliver some luck. 

Not just any crackers - Salted!

By this time Beatrice and I were chatting and she was asking me a lot of questions.  She asked if I was married and I said no.  She asked if I lived alone and I said yes.  Then she asked if I cooked.  When I replied in the negative again she said, "You need to make some bacon and eggs for breakfast”. She also said that I need to have juice every day.  This certainly sounded liked sound advice.  She then said that since I lived by myself, I could play music on radio till late.  I asked what about neighbors, she said if they do not have a problem with alarm clock, and so should not have any issues with all some music.  I said an alarm clock makes a specific sound for a short while and she said why have alarms to wake up when there could be music.  As far as giving domestic advice was concerned, Beatrice was on a roll. In fact, I was having very good banter with her.  When after several games she had failed to win, we tried to change our luck by switching her two cards from left to right or trying different colored chips.  There were times when I would be paying attention to Emma’s board and Beatrice would miss a number.  I would immediately come up with, “Are you lying to me Beatrice, you have the number” or “Don’t give up on free money”; at which she would laugh.  Finally, when she did win, Beatrice took a jar of salted crackers. 

Poor Emma was not having any luck, though she came close several times.  She was totally in the game though, paying attention and asking me to continuously give her the chips, which she liked holding on to.  When the Bingo caller changed from Jim to Jane, I told Emma that her luck was about to switch, but alas that never happened.  On the other side of the room, Kenny was up to his usual ‘Hawaii Five-O’ promo every time 50 was called.  Besides the humming and channel number, he was announcing the guest star on tonight’s episode, someone nobody had heard of. 

Soon the game was over and Beatrice asked if I was returning the following week.  I said that unfortunately I would not be able to, but she could sit with Lisa.  I dropped Emma off on the second floor and she was nice as usual.  When I asked if she wanted to sit at a particular table in the activity room she said, “Oh, this would be nice” or when I asked if the spot where we parked her chair was fine she said, “Oh, this is a nice spot”.  I have never once heard her complain about anything. 

I wished her goodnight and went down and saw that Sam and Jess were wrapping up their program.  Jess said that Jean had thanked me for reminding them about the gum and Sam said that when he last saw Jean, she had a mouthful of gum and was noting all the new flavors in her book!  It is remarkable how a small gesture like getting someone gum, a task which is often mechanical amongst buddies, can be the most important thing for some people.  I am sure Jess knew that when she had picked out all those flavors and now I knew it too.  

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