Love Letter 40 – Bingo

Love Letter 40 – Bingo

False Creek ferries shuttle sightseers along the narrow inlet as cruising yacht parties dance in and out of Pelican Bay Marina. The city streets are abuzz with a plethora of music festivals, catered food offerings and curated celebrations. I fade from the weekend wonderment and emerge into the visionary sounds of Jocelyn Alice and the livelihood of November, 1960 within the high-spirited handwritten pages of  Mom’s Love Letter 40:

18 Lake Street 
Flin Flon, Man
Nov 14/60

Hi Honey!
Hardly fancy writing paper this time, but must invest in some tomorrow for sure!
But have the same things to tell you, dear that I miss you so very much and always think of you – always wishing you were with me. I love you, Bryan!!
Had to get a letter out to you tomorrow as will be busy the next couple of nights.
Real crazy day at work to-day.
Started off fairly good, but at 2 o’clock all the doctors except one were called over to the General Hospital for emergencies – so inevitably had to send the majority of the patients home without seeing anyone.
Ended up wrapping supplies and trying to make the last 4 hours of our day pass more quickly.
Danni, Jobin and I ended up hiding in a doctor’s office having an extra cigarette & telling jokes – typical for us.
Got home right at 6 o’clock and had multi little tasks to do.
Bought Baby Hardy a cute nylon baby outfit and wrapped it, wrote a note from us and it now is ready for mailing.
Cleaned up the house a bit as Mom is having a women’s club over tomorrow nite, then baked a chocolate cake.
Off to Bingo at 8 o’clock, hoping I could win a few $100 dollars for us, but no such luck.
They have Bingo every Monday nite at the Elks Hall so ventured over there for a couple hours.
So you see dear, don’t really do much, but the time seems to be going – too slow tho’ for me to see you again.
I love you so, dear!!

Monday evening at Elks Hall huh, Mom – I picture it well: smoke wafting along low tiled ceiling, endless banter and thunderous laughter amidst a myriad of anxious gamblers displaying ‘lucky charms’ upon their linear wooden numbered cards, manicured hands grasping handfuls of kaleidoscopic translucent bingo chips from Crown Royal bags as the caller reaches into the bingo ball thunderdome and producing the next number – ‘Under the ‘O’ clickety click 66′ . . . Bingo!!

I’ma hit the jackpot right