Father-Daughter

Thursday, July 20, 2023

Bowling brings the family together.

Okay, so, we’re dorks. My dad and me, that is. When I first moved back to California in 2005, I knew no one aside from family. My dad and his then (awful) wife had a team on the local bowling league. They happened to have a spot open as one of their team mates got married and joined her new husband’s team. Had I bowled before? Of course. Was I any good at it? Absolutely not. It didn’t matter because it was more about fun and getting out than the competition.

The teams may have changed, but for the eight years, I bowled every Sunday night. Did I get any better? Slightly. Did I ever beat my dad? Once. Just once. It was also the ONLY time I ever broke 200. Was my dad injured at the time? No comment.

Unfortunately, neither my dad nor I have really bowled any in the last ten years. It doesn’t help that our local bowling alley went out of business after the Rona. My dad didn’t even have any of his gear any more. Mine sat in the garage, collecting dust. There’s a bowling alley in his small town, but it looks like it did 40 years ago.

Well, tonight my work hosted a bowling event at a town about 45 minutes away from my house. I invited my dad and bought his ticket. It included drinks and food and an hour of bowling. My dad was so excited that he bought a new ball when we got there. My stepmom thought it would be right fun to have us wear bowling shirts. No. Don’t ask. I’m not sharing the photo.

We really need to do this more often.