October 1, 2003 Wednesday
That's Bingo, as in Joey
By Ed Grisamore; Telegraph Staff Writers
It began on a fall afternoon three years ago. Marie Tripp picked up her 16-year-old son Joey at Dodge County High School and took him to work with her until her shift ended at Middle Georgia Nursing Home in Eastman.
Joey was in a wheelchair. He had been diagnosed with bone cancer in his leg when he was 10 years old.
Marie had been asked to supervise a bingo game in the dining room. When she got tied up in a meeting, she turned to Joey.
"But I don't know those people," he told her.
"Well, they don't know you, either," she said.
Joey had become a veteran bingo player when he was a frequent patient at Egleston Children's Hospital in Atlanta.
Although only three residents showed up for bingo, there was something extra special about that day.
Before long, Joey became regular bingo caller. Within six weeks, more than 20 people were attending the games every Tuesday and Thursday.
"When he walked in the door, people asked if he was there to play bingo," said nursing home administrator Susan Coffee.
"He was," said Marie, "the Bingo Boy."
In the two years I have known Joey, he has been near the top of my list of young people I admire most.
I'm about to tell you why.
Soon, Joey began volunteering for other activities at the nursing home. He helped with social events. He was the local technology expert whenever the office computers refused to cooperate.
But, most of all, he became a ray of sunshine to the lonely and often forgotten people behind those walls.
"A lot of them just wanted to talk, so I learned to listen," he said. "I had one lady tell me her life story. Each person became very special to me. I love them all. When one of them passes away, it hurts me."
Some days, Joey arrived on crutches or using a walker. Other times, he was confined to his wheelchair, with the same armchair view as those he would visit.
The residents and staff threw him a birthday party when he turned 18, then another when he graduated from high school last spring.
This past July 22, the day before his 19th birthday, he attended freshman orientation at Middle Georgia College in Cochran. (He is a pre-med major and has now been cancer-free for 18 months.)
He was summoned to attend a nursing home meeting that afternoon, so his father, Joe, drove him. Joey was suspicious it might be a surprise birthday party.
It was a surprise, all right. It had nothing to do with birthday candles.
Joey had been named "Young Adult Volunteer of the Year" by the American Health Care Association. He and Marie will travel to San Diego the week of Oct. 13 to receive the national award. Among the convention speakers will be Tipper Gore, wife of former Vice President Al Gore.
Joey, whose family is famous for its annual Christmas lights display in Yonkers, was speechless.
It all started with bingo in the dining room.
He did the rest.
