magic on sunday: my grandma the pro bowler
my grandma has been on a bowling league for 38 years. when she told me this on friday night, i couldn’t even comprehend regularly being a part of something for that amount of time - longer than i’ve even existed on this earth.
“mimi, you have to do it for 12 more years so you can make it 50!” i told her, but she quickly replied that she’d only give it two more, that the arthritis in her fingers has really started to mess with her accuracy. we brainstormed what i might do for 38 years straight. i told her i was just getting out of yoga class and we contemplated that maybe that would be my thing.
despite it being two days since that conversation, it’s still swirling in my head and i think i know why. lately, i’ve put a lot of weight on everything. like it all comes down to a make or break, black or white decision that will have some sort of life-altering and defining impact (spoiler alert: it won’t).
my papa, mimi’s husband, passed away almost two years ago. when we talked on friday night, mimi told me about all the things she’s been doing with her time now that it’s just her. bowling of course, but also making new friends and reconnecting with old friends who she had grown apart from when her life was more occupied by a house full of kids and a husband. there’s an older couple who she drives to church and has an early supper with every week. this week she drove from maine to virginia with my uncle to spend time at my parents house helping them do some remodeling before it goes on the market.
i walked away from our conversation with a bit of peace about the future, a gentle understanding of the all the unknown joy that might lie ahead. being in the beginning of my 30s has oddly really started to weigh on me with a notion that i was somehow behind. but if mimi is still traveling and bowling and still making new friends well into her 80s, i’ve got a good glimpse of how it all might shake out for me.
magic on sunday: 10.08.17
fire escape - mutual benefit
stargazer - nap eyes
2003 - and the kids
nobody dies - thao & the get down
autumn sweater - yo la tango
acolyte - slaughter beach, dog
radio kinski - versing
until sunday,
meghan
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