Elusive Headpin - Part XI

I awoke the next day thinking a tad disoriented. As I was sorting through the images and sounds that were part of my Sister’s house, I thought for a time that I might have imagined much of the encounter with Lisa and Josephine the night before.

I thought of what she (and her daughter) must have been going through at the wake the night before. The fact the four of us showed up had to also bring back some uncomfortable memories of choices long past. I was glad that she had reconciled with her daughter and that they seemed to be on their way to building a relationship. I hoped that, in time, they would be able to make up for some lost opportunities.

True to my word, I said nothing of what I had come to know of Lisa’s past dealings with Joe. The ceremony was brief but respectful. It seemed Lisa was content to stay in the background for the services and allowed Joe’s only living sibling to be the center of attention. I wondered (but dared not ask) how Josephine felt about that decision. It was her Dad we were burying and only she, her mom and I knew this.

We had the customary after services diner gathering with friends and family which was hosted at a nearby VFW hall. It was well attended but brief and the group was in the process of disbanding. I noticed that Lisa and Josephine were absent from this portion of the ritual. I assumed they had returned home (and at that point I realized I didn’t know where “home” was for them) after the services at the graveyard.

I took this opportunity to reunite again with my former bowling team mates.

“Yo Randy. What are your plans with the rest of the day?”

“I didn’t have any really.” He replied. “I guess I was going to mosey on back to Connecticut…”

“Hmm… To hearth and home…”

“Yeah.”

“I was wondering if we could get the group to head back over to the bowling alley in Mabbetsville.”

“I’m game… is it still there?”

“Yep… still there but somewhat run down from our last image of it … I’m told.”

I moved from the captain over to Raymond and Ron.

“Hey guys. Randy and I are going to head back over to Mabbetsville to check out the old bowling alley. You guys up for a little side trip?”

They looked at one another. I saw Ron sigh briefly but, I received two nods from them.

“Good. I’ll see you folks over there”.

I then went over to bid our host a final adieu and extend my condolences once again. I then headed out to the parking lot, jumped into the truck and headed out to our old haunt.

I patted my old bowling ball which I had strapped into the passenger seat when I left home in Schenectady.