For the second consecutive Sunday this past weekend, we played turkey bingo. After trying our luck at our home parish of St. Mary in Spokane Valley, we traveled to my parents’ parish, St. Thomas More, for its event a week later.

Sloan and I hanging out at Turkey Bingo at St. Thomas More Parish in North Spokane.

I guess the St. Mary event was good “practice” because we fared much better at St. Thomas More. Sloan and I inched closer to achieving bingos—in fact, my mom actually won a round—and our numbers were called in raffles. It was a lot of fun.

My parents and children playing turkey bingo at St. Thomas More in North Spokane.

Playing so much bingo this month made me think about a phrase that has entered our lexicon over the past several years. It is common/trendy to say the following when something unexpected happens to you: “I didn’t have that on my bingo card.”

For example, I could say the following: I didn’t have changing jobs on my bingo card for 2024.

As we celebrate Thanksgiving tomorrow, people will come to the table with placements on their metaphorical bingo cards they never foresaw. It might be for the better or it might be for the worse (or both).

Bingo cards of others might not be in full view. Your guests could be concealing some of their unexpected “numbers” or their card might be out in the open for all to see. If you have guests who fit the latter, it is important to be mindful, respectful, and sympathetic. If you are around guests who have hidden bingo cards, treat them with respect and tenderness—you never know if a particular surprising and deflating number was called.

As we enter the holiday season, it is important to keep this mindset over the next several weeks. During this time of the year, there is a lot of reflection that takes place and people are bound to battle with some of the bumps they faced over the past 11-12 months. Hopefully the bingo cards of your loved ones contained many happy surprises in 2024. If not, make sure to be kind. Not everyone will be yelling BINGO with enthusiasm tomorrow. Don’t Blink.