Skip to content

Do I Have to Play Bingo if I choose to live in an Assisted Living Community?

Birches Assisted Living and Memory Care

Birches Assisted Living and Memory Care

Subscribe to our newsletter

assisted-living-do-I-have-to-play-bing

April 30, 2018

“What can you do besides Bingo? That’s all I hear about, and frankly, I don’t like Bingo. Do you like it where you live? Thank you for your response.” —Lillian

Dear Lillian,

I’m with you when it comes to Bingo! I tried it once when I first moved to my assisted living community. I thought I might like it better now, but once was enough. I never went back—and that was fine because there is so much more to do. Sometimes a person has to be careful not to do too much on any given day.

There are many other games to play if you’d like, such as Uno, Scrabble, and Bridge. I tried a game here that I had never played, Rummikub, and it’s become my favorite. It’s like playing Gin Rummy with cubes. If you’d rather read, there is a book club.

There are many other activities to try too. We have a trip to the theater several times a year, and we’ve also gone to the zoo and arboretum. Some months we go out to a local restaurant. At other times, there might be a historical storyteller to hear. We have harp concerts, cello concerts, choirs, guitarists, singers, and dancers entertain us.

We’ve begun a new group performing radio plays and just finished a presentation of “Fibber McGee and Molly.” It was great fun and a huge success. As you can tell, there are many things to do besides Bingo.

So, you can definitely say “no” to Bingo. And some days, if you’d rather, you can do nothing.

You can probably guess from my answer above that I do like where I live. It’s begun to feel like home. That may be hard to imagine, but I am much more active here than I could have been while living in my house. I don’t have to worry about stairs, about cooking, about going out during the cold weather, or about having social time with friends. It can all happen because I’m here!

Thanks for your question! And don’t worry about Bingo!

—Charlotte