My writing class is coming in the morning, so I took all of my clothes and junk off of the dining room table and put it on Lenore’s couch, the couch Lenore the Love Dog loved to lie on in my study while I was working. I left a space open in the middle with a towel in case Gus wanted to take over the spot.
And he has, it’s good to have a dog on the couch again in my study. I have always written with dogs lying quietly around and Gus has joined in that wonderful tradition.
He has.
Next time I’ll bring some cookies or snacks to Bingo Night, I didn’t think of it tonight. Wayne won the second game, he is serious about his Bingo.
Maria is a good Bingo numbers caller, enthusiastic, funny and loud and clear. She spotted people in trouble and went to help them, and was as happy to be there tonight as I was. I’d love to call more bingo games if they asked me. There is nowhere I would rather be on a Friday night. Afterwards, we were tired, we went to the Round House for pizza. Tomorrow, my writing workshop comes to the farmhouse, if they can get through the snow.
It was definitely a dark and stormy and cold night, but we had a full house for Bingo night at the Mansion. Maria and I took turns calling out the numbers, our friend Susan Popper helped the residents figure out their cards.
On the way, I stopped at Stewart’s a convenience store chain and got some got gift certificates to pass out to the game winners. I have never played Bingo and needed a little help from the residents in figuring out how to work the ball holder.
The surprise for me is that I was so excited to be there, and had such a good time being there. Several of the residents needed help, some couldn’t move their fingers quickly, others missed the numbers on their boards that matched the number of the balls.
We backstopped them, laughed with them, cheered them on. There was a sweetness to the game Peggie was intense, Mary was quiet, Wayne was focused, Ellen thought she couldn’t figure it out but she did. As it happened, everybody who came won a game and a free gift certificate, they can get coffee or ice cream or a snack or magazines at Stewart’s, which was a big deal for them, lots of whooping and clapping when they won.
There was something tender about the evening, something cozy and familiar about laughing with these people on this icy, black and snowy night. Maria and Susan felt it too, this was where we belonged Friday night, this was where we wanted to be.
It felt as if we were with the families we never had, we were able to bring much joy and pleasure to people on a winter weekend night when the Mansion was eerily quiet, most of the staff gone, the nightside aides checking on everyone
Something peaceful, something meaningful, something deeply satisfying. They all asked me if I could come back and do Bingo again, and they promised to teach me some other games, and I said I would be delighted to come back and run some game nights with them. And that is the truth, I would.
It was a very special night for me, and now, at least, I have learned to play Bingo.
An especially interesting new RISSE Amazon Wish List, I found it especially exotic and appealing today. OK, I bought the lion.
These gifts go directly to the after school program at RISSE, the refugee and immigrant support center in Albany, and also to their families, struggling with little support to adjust to their new lives in America, and to try and rebuild what they lost.
The walls at RISSE are blank, the classrooms sometimes dark. You can send them a Lion Poster for $4.78, if it’s still there, or math software for $30 or drawing markers for $6.72, a paper towel dispenser for $14.99, a Monolingual Oxford Picture Dictionary for $20, a floor lamp for $30.78 and a Djende Drum for group drum sessions for $30.99, my favorite of the day.
Thanks for supporting the RISSE Amazon Wish List, your support is desperately needed and so much appreciated. You have already begun the transformation of the after school building, in great need of some attention and supplies. The kids thank you, so do the teachers.
They are mystified about where all these gifts are coming from, I tell them about the Army Of Good.
We’ve gone through the wish list a number of times, I hope we can keep it going. I’m heading for the lion, maybe the drum.
I’ll visit RISSE next week (they are closed today because of snow) and get some photos.
I start my day with a purchase from the wish list, I couldn’t help but buy the lion poster. Take a look at the drum, some of the kids from Africa used them there. The drum teaches the children to count beats in music and encourages them to play and work together. Very neat.
Thanks. You can see the wish list here.
