Elusive Headpin - Part VI

As we watched our old friend Randy make his way around the room, Raymond and I were discussing old bowling stories.

“Do you remember when we were down six marks going into the final frame of the county championship in ’76?”

“Yeah, I was the leadoff remember, I struck out (to this day, I’ll contend that the last two shots were pure divine intervention)…”

“That’s what started us off… Ron was next and did a spare, strike, I was third and spared with a respectable counter… That left it in the hands of Randy and Abair.”

“Yep. It helped that the other team opened in two of the first four bowlers.”

“Oh yeah, I remember when Randy got up there all we needed was a mark of any kind. His first pitch shanked to the right and left that awful 6-10 baby split.”

“Yep, my being the eternal pessimist pretty much checked out there. I was gravely disappointed that in that position he didn’t even hit that elusive headpin but he / we were lucky enough that it went down in the mix anyway. He was lucky to end up with the baby split with that shot. Of course with his usual aplomb, he stated that he did that on purpose just to make it interesting.”

“Yeah, but the important thing is that he made the shot. In the heat of the moment, he was able to focus.”

“Lucky that we weren’t all of drinking age…” I chuckled.

“I remember whooping it up for hours after that though…”

“Oh yeah, good times… Good times…”

How about our team having two doubles combos in the state tournament the next year? Me and Randy along with you and Ron. That was a hoot. The luck of the draw made sure we didn’t face each other in the early rounds. If it wasn’t for you and Ron running into that hot hand in the semi-finals both of our doubles combos might have reached the finals and had to face each other. Too bad I had such a rotten last series. I always thought I let Randy down in that one. “

“At that point we had all bowled about 12 games in the same session. We were all tired.”

“Water under the bridge… I guess.”

Randy then circled back to our group. He had a somber look on his face but forced a smile as he approached us again.

“So, anyone hear from Ron?” Randy asked.

“I haven’t spoken to him since the 30 year reunion last summer.” I replied.

“How’s the family.” I asked.

Randy let out a telling sigh and stated “We’re all doing okay. The girls are prepping for their return to college and Mara is in remission. Has been in remission now for the last six months.”

“Great. Glad to hear it.” I replied.

It was at this point, a cry went out from across the room. I tried to focus my eyes but, the lighting in the room was such that I couldn’t quite make out the source of the outburst.