BINGO!

     Who is this person, you ask? Nobody you - or I - know, but she is an announcer at a Bingo game!

     Roberta's brain is deteriorating so much, we see that she needs an activity to sharpen it. Taka suggested playing Wii with her, but because of my previous experience with my dad I know, it's going to be impossible. He could not integrate technology into his life and his mind wasn't as far gone as Roberta's. We set up a computer chess game for him, but every half an hour or so he would push a wrong button; his      game would disappear or change in some way, and he was unable to deal with it by himself. Same happened, when we tried to include him in playing Wii: he couldn't figure out or remember the ways to use the remote. Heck, even using the TV remote was a challenge for him, as it is for Roberta. So, no, sir, no Wii!

Taka's next suggestion was much better: to take her to a Bingo 
game! 

We are very fortunate in our area. Hayward, where we reside, is a sister city with a Japanese town, Funabashi. There is therefore a lovely spot in our fair city: a Japanese Garden, full of roses, shaped trees and small pools with koi and little turtles. Next to the Japanese Garden is located a Senior Center. Roberta and I went there for Bingo.
     A big hall was only half filled with tables and seniors, sitting at them, peering into the rows of cards with numbers. They have a different kind of cards there with little levers which pull pieces of clear red plastic over numbers, that have been played. 
     I bought a couple of cards for Roberta and myself. As newcomers we received another free card. At first I was keenly watching Roberta's cards, but, with some exceptions, she appeared to be quite able to follow the announcements and find the called digits. I focused therefore more on my own business at hand. 

     The ladies sitting next to us were friendly, but also businesslike. I didn't want to distract them with questions, but when an unexpected thing happened, and I saw a winning combination on my board, I timidly asked one of them, if it was true. She blinked at my lonesome card (most of the people there had four or more cards in front of them to maximize the chance of winning) for a couple of seconds and then incredulously admitted that I won that one game!\
     With that revelation even Roberta pouted at me a little! I heard some whispers among the other players, like: "Isn't that her first time playing?" - or - "Gee, I really didn't need that!" 
     A gentleman brought me my winnings - the whole of $9.00! 
     "The beginners luck" was, what everyone agreed on and philosophically returned to the game. 
     The whole day, when an opportunity arose, I pulled out the bills from my wallet to pay for things with mixed feelings of  amazement and triumph. Free money! I wonder, if I have to declare it as capital gain on my income tax return!