For Anchorage seniors whose in-person gatherings were shut down by COVID-19, a card game is their pandemic comeback story.
Just after lunch on weekdays at Anchorage Senior Activity Center, a group of women settles into a cluster of tables in the lobby to play Skip-Bo, dominoes and canasta.
They play cards, they’ll tell you, because that’s how people used to connect and pass time before they were all staring at TVs and smartphones. And if the last two years have taught them anything, it’s that connection is precious. From left, Jen Michaels, 74, Rebecca Hanson, 70, Lynne Duncan, 68, and Betty Anderson, 84, sort donated fabric in the quilting room at the Anchorage Senior Activity Center on June 10.
There are so many people who used to come, but don’t now, she said. It could be because they have health problems and masks aren’t required anymore or, maybe, their health took a turn.From left, Donna Delancey, 82; Sandra Harp, 69; Brenda Powers, 69; and Phyllis Robert, 70, play Skip-Bo on May 17. There’s always been an existential undercurrent to the social scene at the senior center, but the last two years intensified it. Executive director Rebecca Parker reads the obituaries to keep track of members who pass away. When she recognizes a name, she always writes a sympathy card, mentioning something specific about the person. She came to Alaska at the beginning of the oil boom, she said. She’s lost so many friends in the last couple years who made a difference in the community.
Delancey has lived in Alaska since 1975. She grew up in Indiana, and came up with her ex-husband, who had lived in Alaska when his family was stationed here. She worked an administrative job at GCI for 19 years.
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