Family Bingo

When our family gathered from four states for a reunion, we got reacquainted by playing Family Bingo. To start, we took pencils and slips of paper and wrote down the good things happening in our lives. Many hesitated but quickly recognized an opportunity to update people about new interests, job promotions, and other accomplishments. The room buzzed with activity. We then gathered the slips of paper and put them in a bowl. Rick was appointed to draw the slips and read them.

We gave each person a Family Bingo card: a sheet of paper with a grid of 16 spaces. One of the spaces was marked “free.” In the remaining spaces each player wrote the names of any 15 relatives. Rick drew slips of paper from the bowl and read what was written on them. After guessing who it was, those who had the name crossed it off their cards.

When we learned that two-year-old Jonathan knew the ABC song, we sang it with him. We hushed the room so Mike could tell how he taught his nonmember uncles to pray. We gasped to hear that Joe, an electrical engineer, had saved over 350,000 computer chips from the scrap heap. We laughed and cheered as the slips were read, and within 20 minutes we felt closer as a family.

When 10-year-old Justin declared himself the winner, family members responded with a chorus of, “Don’t stop! Let’s keep playing.” In short, Family Bingo was a winner.—Gayla Wise, Mesa, Arizona