Nothing can stop our bingo
Years ago, I wrote about a longstanding tradition on my mom’s side of the family that goes all the way back to my childhood: Christmas bingo. The simple game of filling in squares with letter-andnumber combinations has provided us with hours of fun over the years.
Playing bingo itself is not all that thrilling, unless your little red dots (we use plastic ones) start to align into that magical straight line. The real thrill is when you finally get to yell out the name of the game and go up to the big table of wrapped gifts. We’re not a bingo hall, so we don’t give out cash prizes or free tokens at the slot machines.
Instead, we buy the most random assortment of gifts you can think of, from boxes of candy and sets of promotional pens to bags of makeup and novelty office items. The true fun comes when you start trading gifts with other members of the family. So no one is left out, you have to donate your pick of gift to someone else if you’ve already won one that round.
With COVID keeping everyone apart this year, it didn’t even occur to me that Christmas bingo would be possible. My aunt LeeAnn, who has always been the ringmaster of the game, wasn’t going to let physical distance get in the way, though. She sent out a chat on Facebook last week, announcing that the Ekblad family’s annual bingo game would be going virtual this year. To avoid scheduling conflicts, she said would she pick a time for a Zoom call sometime between Christmas and New Year’s to chat and play a couple rounds.
What really surprised me was the package that arrived in the mail a couple days later, containing several pre-wrapped gifts and some bingo cards. My aunt was not messing around with this idea. She was going to make it happen, and her display of determination brought a smile to my face. It reminded me not to be so glum when it comes to “missing out.”
To be honest, the actual bingo games themselves have mostly passed on to the next generation — the sons and daughters of my cousins, some of whom are still learning their letter and numbers. In recent years, it’s been more of a spectator sport for me and my wife, but it looks like that will change this year. You can’t really sit this one out when you have bingo cards and gifts delivered directly to your mailbox.
In a year that has seen so many cancellations, postponements and disappointments, it’s good to know that a few things can still carry on through the wonder of modern technology. As I wrote last week, I’m moving beyond my initial “humbug” instincts and embracing a different type of Christmas this year. And I hope all of you can too.
OUT FOR A WALK
KEVIN O’BRIEN
EDITOR
