Old Man Aches and Pain
In May of 2006, my daughter had a birthday party. It was held at an alley in Wilmette, Illinois. That was the last time I picked up a bowling ball until last night.
The night before the bowling party was a long one. My dog, DJ, was sick and I was in pet emergency with him until 3 am. It was a long, costly and sad night. It started with a cough that wouldn't stop. Five hundred dollars and five hours later, he had a terminal cancer diagnosis. After all of that, I woke up the next morning feeling better than I do today...at least physically.
The idea of the bowling outing was to do a little socializing and also see what my body could handle. How will a night of bowling, with Parkinson's, affect my body.
First step was finding a bowling ball that fit. I found one that had good finger holes. It was 16 pounds. I went to pick it up and my arms dropped to my knees. Uh Uh...No way!! I'm thinking 14 pounds might work. I found one that fit. We're in business.
This is the group of ChicagoNow bowlers from night. Everyone bowled one game and then four of us bowled the final game.
I was in the first game. First ball was a strike. Amazing!! Especially since I could barely keep the practice balls on the lane. It went down hill from there.
My game had a couple of strikes. A couple of spares. And a few really bad frames. Final score in Game 1 was 121. Not great and not embarrassing.
The team lost game one by 1 pin. Damn!!
I sat out Game 2. I needed the break. I already had pain in my arms and legs.
The team lost Game 2 by 4 pins. Damn Damn!!
I'm back for Game 3. First shot, the ball slipped out of my hand on the back swing. I couldn't control it for the first two frames. Either the finger holes were wet or my fingers shrunk between games. I switched balls.
It was a 13 pounder ( wimp) that fit perfectly. Did it help my game. Naaaa!!!
One spare and lots of open frames. I salvaged the game by getting back to back strikes, more commonly known as a double, in the 8th and 9th frames. Phew!! No under 100 game for me. Final score...another 121!
We win Game 3!!! YEAH!! WE ROCK!!! Beat them by 1 pin!!
It was a fun night. Met some bloggers that you see in the above picture. They write everything from restaurants to sports. From Education/parenting to hot dogs stands.
So how do I feel today. Let me spell it out for you...OH MY FUCKING GOD!!!
My ankles, knees, wrists and shoulders all ache. Muscles in my arms, back and legs are twitching. And this is from Bowling? Really? Can you say wuss?!? Nothing a Tylenol and a Vicadin couldn't help. Of course, I have neither of those. I do have a ton of Valium. That will help in so many ways!!
So overall, I'd call the night a success. Physically it went as expected. It doesn't look like I'll be joining the Senior PBA tour anytime soon and I'm fine with that.
Have a nice day everyone....I'm off to take a nap.