Yesterday over scrambled eggs and bacon, my dad implied that “the boys” were going somewhere. As is the case every year on Christmas Eve, I asked where it was that we were going, and why nobody bother to tell me. This year, I wanted to watch some football. I was reminded, as I have to be every year, that we were going bowling on Christmas Eve. My cluelessness is part of the tradition.
This year, my mom had to prepare for the little hellions that would be arriving at the house in under six hours, so the men of the family piled into his car and went to the bowling alley where we would play our best games of the year. That was also tradition, aided, probably, by the fact that nobody was drinking and there wasn’t another soul in the lane.
I take two things away from these yearly trip to the lanes, the first being how well bowling reflects our lives. The best way to bowl is to find a rhythm. If you use your routine, you can usually bowl a consistent game. In life, things are copacetic when your routine is unbroken, and as in bowling, we’re uncomfortable when the routine is broken, and our work reflects it. I think, too, that this is why there isn’t as much bickering when dad tries to teach us to bowl. Just be consistent.
The second is why we undertake this activity every year. As I mentioned, later in the day, my mother’s family would be invading, including one little girl in particular who was hellbent on murdering my dog. Today, we’ll all go over to my uncle’s, where 50 people will be packed in, drinking and yelling. The bowling is the best chance to get away from the bustle and be together as a family, not worrying about the upcoming get togethers, or drowned out by the noise of the season.
Bowling too, is a natural fit. Mine is a sporting family, and when we do things together, it invariably involves sports. We bowl together, we golf together, we attend Twins, Gophers, Wild and even the odd Vikings game together. Sports are as much a part of my clan as family dinner. I suppose that’s why I take them seriously enough to write bout them, ad nauseum.
I hope that whatever your family does to celebrate the holidays is joyful and merry. – Ryan
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