I've Got Sunshine On A Cloudy Day......

It's A Cloudy Day In My Life Today. For The Past 3 1/2 Years I have Had The Great Pleasure In Bowling With My Father. There Are Not Too Many Son's That Can Boast Such A Pleasure In Life.
My Father Is The Person Who Helped Me Throw My First Bowling Ball Down The Alley. I'm Guessing I was 6 Or 7 Years Old. I Knew Absolutley Nothing About The Sport Of Bowling. He Taught Me A Few Tips That Has Helped My Game Today!
Back In The Day(Mid 80's) My Father And I Bowled On The Same Team And Won The First Place Championship Of That League. He Quit Bowling After That Year But Found Himself Bowling Once Again A Few Years Later. Him And My Mother Began Bowling With The Senior Citizen League In Ridgefarm Illinois.
The Ridgeway Lanes Ended Abruptly By Fire Which Sent This League To Lincoln Lanes Here In Danville. It Was That Leagues Third Year At Lincoln Lanes When I Became Eldgible To Bowl. One Requirement Expected From Me Was To Be The Age Of 50.
My Mother Bowled On The Same Team As My Father Called The Keenagers.
The Year I Turned 50 I Knew I Was Welcomed To Once Again Bowl Along Side My Father.
I Have Always Known My Father To Enjoy The Sport Of Bowling. Each Year My Mother, Father And Myself Travel To Indianapolis And Watch The Pro-Bowlers Qualify In That Weeks Tournement.
Lately My Father Has Been Expierencing Pain In His Hip. He Must Take Pain Medication To Tolerate The Pain That Bowling Gives Him In His Ripe Young Age Of 76.
It Has Always Been My Hope That Our Team Won First Place Before We No Longer Bowled Again. To Be Honest About It, It Came To No Surprise To Me When He Looked At Me Today And Told Me To Find A Replacement For Him. Ofcourse My Heart Sank With Sadness Because I know My Bowling Years With Him Are Over. We Turn Another Page.
I've Got Sunshine On This Cloudy Day. My Sunshine Is That I'm A Very Lucky Man To Have His Father Around To Share All The Memories We Created Together.
I've Yet To Achieve The Greatness My Father Had Established Throughout The Years.
I Have Goals In My Bowling Career. Beating My Fathers Accomplishments Are Not In Those Goals. Just Having The Opportunity To Have That Pleasure In Bowling Beside My Father These Past 3 Years Was An Honor.
I Have an 8X10 And A 5X7 Of My Team Mates. My Father Is One Out Of Five Of Us On The Team. I Will Cherrish This Photo. It Gives Me Even Greater Sadness Knowing My Brother Tuck Really Looked Forward To Joining The Keenagers. We Intend To Keep A Spot Open For Tuck's Arrival Next November. Unfortunatley Dad Won't Be Bowling With Us.
Dad, My Message To You Is Thanks For The Memories.....

I Have A Confession

I Had One Of Those Days Of Reflection. Today A Childhood Friend Was Layed To Rest. I Was Told He Had A Heart Attack And A Stroke All In One Day. I Hadn't Seen Him For About 4 Years. I First Met Him At Franklin School. I Believe His Family Attended The Same Church My Family Attended. Anyway, Long Story Short. It Was A Day To Reflect On My Years Of Growing Up On Franklin Street. The Neighborhood Was Full Of Kids Both Young And Old. Growing Up Across The Street From The Grade School Was Pretty Cool Too.
As We Grow Older Our Interest In Life May Not Include A Childhood Friend. In Time, We Grow Older And Years Pass Us By. Before We Know It, We Have All Aged A Generation.
Now When We Run Into A Childhood Friend We Share Photo's Of The Grandkids.
I Have Been Recognized And Been Told I Haven't Changed A Bit! Haha, Yea Right!
Now As Far As Billie Jo, Her Facial Features Are The Same As They Were When I First Met Her In 1967.
School Was Responsible For The Friendships Of Many. As The Years Go On, I Seem To Run Into A Friend From The Past Less Often. If My Mind Does Focus On Them It's Usually Due To A Death In Their Family.
When Others Don't Share The Same Interest As You, Your Lives Don't Cross As They Once Did. It's Not Particularly A Bad Thing.
It's Just A Part Of Life.

You Are Almost There Girl....

Yes That's Right! The Big 50!
It Was January 7th And Daddy Informed My Two Brothers And Myself That Mommy Was Bringing Home A Sister. A Sister? Huh? I Can Remember Saying I Didn't Want A Sister. A Sister Is A Girl And Mommy Says We Have To Be Nice To Girls. There Goes The Neighborhood! Hahaha!!
No Seriously, 49 Years Later I Still Have To Be Nice To The Girls And Having A Little Sister For The Past 49 Years Aint That Bad Afterall.
So I Guess This Is Where I Am Suppose To Pass Along Some Good Advice To Help Pave Your Road To Fifty. Don't Eat Yellow Snow? Happy Birthday!