Having been a better than average bowler, with averages in the 180's and low 190's, I decided to try my hand at bowling shortly after becoming totally blind. Nearly 45 years ago and how vivid that memory is. I went with my parents to our favorite neighborhood lanes and prepared for this test event. I slipped on my shoes, walking back and forth from the fowl line, checking the distance between the gutters and pacing off my approach. Finally I was ready. Ball held tightly in front of me, tight against my stomach, I took my first stride. Just as easy as it had always been, the ball swinging loose, back behind me and then driving forward and out into the air. As I let it loose from my grip I listened. Nothing! No sound of the ball touching the boards of the lane in front of me. And then, two lanes to my left, a mighty crash followed by yet a second smashing sound. "Wow!" my dad whispered. "Your ball flew across two lanes and just crashed into the automatic pin setter.
I sat down, pulled off my shoes while my dad retrieved my ball, and I shakily put it, now sporting a huge nick, back into it's bag where it stayed for nearly ten years. When Cathy and I began dating she talked me into once again approaching the fowl line, ball in hand. This time I used a guide rail and the ball actually stayed on it's proper lane. After that we would take the children bowling as a family outing. I learned to have fun and not try competing with the sighted bowler I once was. My best scores barely made it into the 100's and usually hovered below 90. But we did have fun sharing happy hours together as a family.
Curious Carl
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