Bingo was his game-oh
Blind man finds joy at LOEL Senior Center
Terry Joseph’s fingers run swiftly across the wooden board as he searches for N37. He finds the hole marked with Braille, and quickly drops a red plastic marker into it. The caller is on to the next number, and Joseph, with a large grin on his face, looks for it, fingers flying across the four boards in front of him.
The blind 68-year-old Lodi man is in his element. Sitting at one of the long tables filled with fellow bingo players, an infectious smile on his face, the joy he gets from the game is radiating from him.
“People like to watch when I get excited,” he said. “When my numbers come up, sometimes I jump all over the place,” he laughs.
Joseph plays with four hand-made bingo boards, made specially for him. A friend from church helped make the boards — they are copies of a board he used to play with at the Community Center for the Blind and Visually Impaired in Stockton. Joseph’s brother-in-law helped him glue the small printed Braille alphabetnumber combinations into each hole. The four boards all have their unique letternumber combinations.
On a recent Tuesday at the LOEL Senior Center, Joseph is sitting with his seeing friend Barbara Sierra at his side. She helps check his numbers and scans the card to see if he has bingo. Sierra brings him some candy to snack on during the four-hour bingo session.
In Joseph’s lap sits Jeremiah, the favorite out of about a dozen toy monkeys he has collected over the years. He brings one with him wherever he goes and tells people they are his kids. Joseph and Barbara are regulars at Panera, where Joseph has been known to monkey around. He puts the stuffed animals on the counter and pretends they are trying to sweep things off it.
“Everyone tells me you need to keep your kids under control. It puts a smile on people’s faces,” he said.
Joseph previously played bingo at the Stockton Community Center for the Blind, but due to the time-consuming commute he switched to the LOEL Center, and he loves it there.
“I’ve met some wonderful people,” he said. “It makes you feel good when you’re wanted.”
A few weeks ago Joseph got a bingo. He took his $12 in winnings and spent it on his other collection — 45 vinyl records. His favorite musical era is the 1950s and ’60s, and he’s a big fan of The Beatles, The Rolling Stones and The Beach Boys.
Joseph is also into police scanners and CB radios, anything to keep his hands busy, he says.
But his first love is bingo, and he’s looking forward to the next day of play.
“I love bingo, I wish I had it all day long, every day.”