By request from participants, here are Mark’s remarks from August’s Opening Ceremony of the Bugbee Games:
One of the interesting things about working at a senior center is that I spend a lot of time professionally thinking about the basics: Food. Transportation. Healthcare. Housing. Safety. Financial security. Those things matter enormously, and we spend a lot of time in the aging services world trying to figure these things out, as we should.
But that doesn’t capture everything about life at Bugbee, or maybe life in general. There are things we still seek out no matter what, even if there are times when our basic needs get shaky. I see it happen every day, even when some of us are working through unimaginable difficulty. I see you arriving for lunch, and the first thing you do is look around to see who’s here. I hear you talking about a class you took, showing off your paintings, discussing the next trip, or something you read, something you made, something new you’ve learned, what’s happening with your family.
I see you singing, dancing, enjoying music, visiting museums and exhibits together, and writing stories, poems, or friendly notes to each other. I see you exploring your curiosity about the most random things: bird calls, how to cook garlic scapes, favorite yarns, what kinds of road signs they use in Kazakhstan, or whether humidity or dew point really matters more for summer comfort.
I see friendships form between people who might never have met before coming to Bugbee. I see you looking after each other, resolving conflicts, and helping each other out. I hear a ridiculous amount of laughter coming from rooms where I’m pretty sure you’re supposed to be exercising. And then once a year, I watch perfectly reasonable adults become intensely competitive about things like knitting and puzzles.
I love it, because you’ve convinced me that these aren’t “extras.” Having somewhere to go—not to spend, not to earn, but simply to be yourself—this matters. Having somewhere people know your name, where you can just exist as a person, isn’t a luxury. It shouldn’t be reserved for only some people.
The more time I spend with all of you, the more I understand what it means to live a good life, and how my job is to share this as best we can. We need food, shelter, and safety to survive. We also need to tell stories, call each other, create things, teach and learn from one another, gather, and yes, to play games.
Human beings have been doing these things for thousands of years. None of them stop mattering just because we get older. The Bugbee Games are a celebration of something all of you demonstrate here and out in the community, all year long. Every person, regardless of age, should be able to enjoy the things worth living for. When we do this together, we give each other a sense of purpose, contribute to our community, and contribute to our shared humanity.
So, to everyone who participated in this year’s Games, those who couldn’t make, it, and those who are with us in spirit, thank you for teaching us about what it means to be human. You are all worth more than your weight in gold.
Mark Bradley
Executive Director