We are down to the last handful of shopping days until Christmas and I am again pondering the ghosts of Christmas presents past.  I recall asking for a bowling ball for Christmas when I was in high school, back before I determined that bowling just really was not up my alley (sorry I should have spared you from that pun… and that one as well).  

I was in a bowling league with some friends during my junior and senior years of high school.  The senior year team chose “The Spanish Inquisition” as our team name and we purged those pins well enough to end up in second place at the end of the season.  I have not bowled in a league since then, but I still have my Gem bowling ball that has traveled with me as I have moved from state to state and house to house over the years.  

The ball may be over 40 years old but it still works and amazingly it still fits! How many Christmas presents still work and fit after that long? I presently went  ruminating through the basement looking for my old bowling ball and bag to use for a company Thanksgiving Turkey-bowl.  I have been bowling maybe 2 times in the last five years but figured I might as well take my own ball it might give the impression that I had some clue as to what I was doing.  So with my old companion with me I stepped onto the lane for my first roll and promptly deposited the ball in the left-side gutter before touching a single pin.  However, I was not deterred.  I refocused my thoughts and tried to remember those glory days from my youth and managed a strike in the second frame and the third frame and the fourth frame and the fifth frame!  I returned to reality after that but finished with a 166 that was, tied for the high score for the outing and was able to help my team bring home turkeys, literally.  

As you look for those last gifts on your shopping list just remember that some gifts will break, some will wear out, some will be outgrown, some will go out of style, but a bowling ball will last forever.

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