When I was a kid, my dad would sometimes take us to the bowling alley on Saturdays for something to do. Occasionally we’d go miniature golfing or to the movies, but most of the time (as far as I can recall) it would be bowling. I loved it. I sucked, but I loved spending time with my dad. When I got into high school, I’d go bowling at Rock n’ Bowl with my friends on Saturday nights. I still wasn’t very good, but it didn’t matter. We had a great time.
About 10 years ago I talked my dad into joining a doubles bowling league on Tuesday nights at the locale alley. It was super cheap, and tons of fun. Dad and I bowled there for a few seasons, before his hand and eyes got to the point where he didn’t want to bowl anymore. But I met some great people in that league, which caused me to join another. And another. And another. At one point I was bowling 6 nights a week at the same place, and loving every second of it. I took a second job at the coffee shop inside the bowling alley, just because I was there all the time. I figured if I was going to be there, I might as well make some money. That lasted all of 4 months. But I kept bowling and making new friends (including my husband). Progressively, I got better at it too. I won a few tournaments, and started bowling with better bowlers. I was totally addicted.
Then time went on, and the people changed. I still loved to bowl, but certain people there made me want to be elsewhere. So I cut back on the amount of leagues I bowled in. I started a league in a center that was 30 miles away with Jenn, a friend that I’d bowled with near home. It was great. I loved the bowling alley, and the people there. Eventually, I quit all my leagues close to home, and only bowled 30 miles away. As luck would have it, Jas and I moved within 10 miles of the center, so I didn’t have to drive as far. Sadly, the center I loved closed down, and we moved to a different place. It’s only 4 miles away now, but it’s not as great as the other was. Since I spend most of my waking hours on the computer, I began to have wrist problems, and bowling was becoming more painful than fun. So in summer of 2006, I quit bowling altogether. I missed it a lot, but every time I thought about starting again, I remembered the pain, and decided I was better off without it.
Last November, Jenn asked me to start bowling on her team because they were losing a member. I missed bowling a lot, so I decided I’d try it again. I didn’t know the other two guys on the team (only by name) so I was a little nervous. The first night I started, Jenn was out sick, so it was just me and these two random guys. I’m pretty shy, so I thought it would be awkward and uncomfortable. They turned out to be pretty damn cool. Over the last few months we’ve all become good friends, and I’m enjoying bowling more than I ever had. I look forward to every Friday night. Even when I was unable to bowl after surgery, I went down and hung out and still felt like part of the team. These past three weeks I’ve been able to bowl again, and despite the agony I’m in (my stomach muscles haven’t fully recovered yet) I’m bowling very very well, and having a great time doing it. Every week we stay after bowling and just hang out together. Our league goes to Laughlin for sweeps the first weekend in June, and it’ll be the last week we bowl together until September. I’m looking forward to Laughlin because it’ll be a blast, but I’m dreading Laughlin because it means the league is over. I don’t know what I’ll do on Friday nights this summer. I won’t have Jenn to make bets with when she leaves a huge split. I won’t have Pitter to worry about, when he lofts his ball 50 feet down the lane, and looks like he’s going to fly with it. I won’t have Donald to laugh at when he misses the 5-pin. Again. (Of course, I also won’t get myself confused with Donald, since we share initials, and I always want to bowl when it’s his turn.) I hope we can still get together during the summer and drink or bowl or even play darts. This has been the most fun I’ve had bowling since I joined my first league 10 years ago. I’m really going to miss it.