Bowling Dreams & Cheap Wine

Chapter 19

A visit to see my family is long overdue. I need a morning away from the house, from bowling, from all of it. My sister is meeting me at the nursing home to spend time with our mother. The drive is over is a long two hours. Emotion steamrolls my heart just thinking about seeing her. Tears prick my eyes. This is the best place for her. It was a decision Leslie and I made together painfully. I have been off track this fall with my visits to her. I approach the slate gray building with a promise to myself and to her to visit more.

Leslie clobbers me in a hug. "Why haven't I seen you for the past two months?"

"I'm sorry. I know. It's been too long." We walk towards the check-in desk and sign in, ignoring the smell of medical cream that never seems to leave.

Leslie's brown eyes meet mine. "When we're done here let's get lunch, okay?"

"Of course." I had already planned on that. Seeing Leslie sets everything right within me and for a couple of hours, we hang out with our mother.

Her room is small. A television, a bed, and a few photos are all she requires. Her smile brightens at the sight of us and when she looks at me, she wastes no time. "Are you still single?"

"Mom," Leslie cuts in, "tell us how you're doing."

I give Leslie a thankful glance, her face so much like mine except longer. We pull up chairs and sit with our mother talking, laughing, and a little bit of crying. I try not to think about how quickly I will be here except Daphne will be visiting with her family.

Our visit leaves us drained. We speak quietly in the parking lot for a few minutes and head to lunch our time together precious. What energy I had to tell her about Raj, Nate, and the bowling league are deflated from the nursing home. She catches me up on work and my nephews. Normal family stuff, not how she's dating two different men and is hated by a women's bowling league.

By the time I get home, it's mid-afternoon. I took the day off knowing it takes a lot out of me to spend time at the nursing home. My brain needs time to thaw from sadness and bittersweetness of being with my Mom, still feeling like a child every time I see her and wishing she could be more like an Alley Cat with boisterous personality, the kind that will live happy and healthy until 95.

I pause in front of my doorsteps and stare. A small bouquet of hydrangeas are on my front steps. "What the—"

I scoop them up and read the card.

Looking forward to our date tomorrow.

-Nate

I glance at his house. Not a curtain moving. I imagine he's inside sitting in front of his computer checking routers or whatever someone in IT really does.

###

Thanks to The Ham and his motivational encouragement and feeling a touch brave for what I need to do, I hit the streets before work Saturday morning before work. Bundling up my grocery bags, I put my earbuds in and listen to the workout, but my mind is going a thousand different directions. Maybe it is time I re-evaluate my work situation for real. Spend some quality time with my laptop looking for positions in ice skating that I might be ready for or looking into management opportunities at arenas in the area. It's time for good change. For taking the reigns even if I don't know how to ride a horse.

Two blocks into my lunging, I spot three other women stopping on the sidewalk to do calf raises with grocery bags. We make fleeting eye contact—a knowing glance. One woman is doing a modify skater with her bags swinging and further down, a guy is doing Tricep dips with tote bags with vegetables sticking out.

I work my way through the sidewalks loving the brick front buildings and fall leaves cramming the gutters. It's all very pretty. I come around the side of Lazy Days, my stomach growling at the scent of fresh-baked carbs. Nate's sitting in one of the coveted seats, a coffee in front of him. His gaze on his phone.