Location: Britton/Budd Apartments
Date: Monday, December 14, 2015; 6:15 -7:30 pm
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| The place was decorated for the holidays |
I always love coming here and today was no exception. I arrived to see that the entire place had
been decked out in Christmas decorations and the lobby which is already quite
good to begin with, was looking even better.
I saw my buddy Elvina and she was carrying some mail and
packages. She looked tired and for the
first time since I have known her, she looked…old. I went inside and after signing up with
Veronica, I sat down with Elvina and another lady Leslie, who made sure that
she got my name right. She also
remembered that I had called the game last time and mentioned that I had been
lucky for her. I said, well then let’s
do it again. I asked for her
favorite number and she said that it was 7, whereas Elvina’s was 8, which I
knew. Leslie said that she had read
somewhere that 7 signified end of things and 8 was a new beginning. I had not heard of such a thing, but it did
sound fascinating.
Today’s prizes had a distinct holiday theme and one resident
lady had even donated a box of festive cookies with a bow on top. I saw Elvina eyeing those and said that we would
win those for her. Speaking of cookies,
Veronica had baked a batch of “Chocolate
Chip” cookies for the residents and everyone made a beeline for them. I told Elvina that I would get one for her
and she said that she could go and get it herself! Leslie kept saying that the cookies were good
and Elvina said, “You always see the best
in everything”. Now this could
either be the sweetest thing or maybe those cookies were just plain bad!
I asked Elvina how her holiday shopping was going and she
said that her daughter had gotten Elvina’s dog Magic a bigger bed. It seems that Magic had liked the bed when
visiting Elvina’s daughter and thus the new present. I asked what she had gotten for her kids and
she said that she had bought the same thing for her 4 daughters and 1 son –
fluffy socks. Leslie said she gotten
some “Fleece” pants and underwear for
herself. Okay then. The game started and a couple of people won,
with Elvina watching closely if they would take the cookies; looking pleased when they didn't. Then I won at the same time
as another resident and I told Elvina to go get it. She rushed forward to grab the cookies so
fast that it would put younger people to shame. Yeah, that thing about her seeming old was premature.
I was on a roll and won the next round in record time, with
the first 5 numbers on my board. I asked
Leslie to pick and she got a “Bodywash”. Elvina won again and picked something that
looked like “Cookie cans”. There were 2 of them and she said that she would
give them to each of her great grandkids.
I told her not to forget to insert some candies in them. Veronica asked if anyone else wanted to call
and I said that since Leslie had called me lucky for her, I would do so. I called the next couple of rounds and poor Leslie
did not win, though Elvina did again and picked up a small pouch like thing,
which she then returned for something else.
After a few rounds, I was replaced by another volunteer and
then sat next to the lady who always translates each number in Spanish for
others. She’s a nice lady and smiled
whenever I pointed out that she had missed a number. She had picked a nice Christmas themed towel
and I complimented her on that. I asked
if she would use it as a towel and she said no and neither should her husband,
since she wanted it for decorations.
There were a few others who had not won even once and Veronica ensured
that they all got something before the end. The last game was a jackpot round with 4
prizes and the first winner would take all, which made it high stakes. One gentleman won them and then it was time
to go. Veronica asked if I wanted to be
a leader for this and I declined, saying that I usually go to “Pet Therapy” on Monday’s. I bid Elvina happy holidays and left after a
fun evening.
*All the client's names have been changed in
order to respect their privacy
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