Racing through the airport to make sure we caught our flight, so many thoughts were racing through my head. I was sweaty. Still in my bowling clothes, Storm thumb tape still on my thumb. 

We dropped off my rental car. Caught the shuttle to the airport. Loaded all the bags on the shuttle. Then unloaded them at the airport. Dragged what felt like 36 bags to check-in, even though in reality we had only 6. They were heavy too, and we had been up since 5:45am. Luckily, my kids are old enough to drag a few three ball totes.

It all felt a bit chaotic. We were all sweaty. But also so happy. Going through security, I looked at Madden at exactly 7:35pm and said, “I literally haven’t eaten anything today.” I made sure to get out of my hotel in enough time that morning to stop at Starbucks for my iced brown sugar shaken espresso. Half the sugar.  That’s the only thing I had consumed all day. Well, that and about two gallons of water. 

The morning had been an 8:30am start. We left the hotel in a bit of a rush of adrenalin with our luggage at 6:45am. But I still managed to notice the shiny penny staring up at me when I first stepped foot outside. I bent over to check if it was heads up. It was. I put it in my skirt pocket. Flying home that night, it was still in my pocket, bunched up in my overly crowded backpack under my feet.

By the time I got on the plane more than 12 hours after leaving the hotel, all that had happened was all still registering. Until then, I hadn’t had a moment to myself to really process the day’s win. That’s when it really started to sink in.

I won a title. Not only did I win a title, I won with my kids watching behind me. And bowling with one of the best bowlers in the world.

What a great day. And bizarre. There’s so much going through my head as I think about it. So much to say as I still process it. And to think that I almost chose to sit out this year’s tournament. Marshall Kent has his brother’s wedding to attend the same weekend. Instead of scrambling for a partner, I told Donna Connors, the beautiful tournament director, that I’d see her next year. She kept texting me about bowling. And I kept telling her “it’s all good. I’ll see you next year.”

Then, in March she called me. She said she had a partner for me and handed her phone to someone.. It was EJ Tackett on the other end. It was an easy sell. I remember saying, “how could I say no to YOU?” That was followed up by, “you know I’m bowling part time now, right?”

11 years ago, EJ asked me for a photo at Team Trials. I always love interacting with my fans but I had no idea who he was. Later that day, I asked someone to point out who the kid was at the top of the scoreboard. They pointed at EJ. I went back and found him, asking if I should be asking for a photo with him!

Bowling has a funny way of bringing life full circle.

The Luci Bonneau Striking Against Breast Cancer Mixed Doubles is in Houston, TX, and brings all the best professional bowlers together not just for a professional title, but even more importantly, for a great cause. This is the 22nd year of this event and they have contributed over 1 million dollars to cancer research. Every pro who shows up at this event feels the same thing. That the reason we are there is way bigger than the strikes that are thrown.

20 years ago, I won this same tournament. At that time, the tournament was just 2 years old and I had a different last name. My partner was Dino Castillo. Although it was a really long time ago, I remember what it felt like to bowl a mixed doubles event. It was FUN. And I bowl better when I’m having fun.

Before I bowled with EJ, I told him that I just wanted to have fun. I knew I’d be my best if I was relaxed and was enjoying it all. He felt the same.

I can’t pretend there wasn’t pressure associated with bowling EJ Tackett though. He won last year with Danielle McEwan and a few years ago with Liz Johnson. I didn’t want to be the partner he didn’t win with. There was real pressure. Pressure that was completely self induced. Could I hang with his striking enough to keep us close to the top? I did my best not to think about letting him down and instead just focused on what I could control, bowling what was directly in front of me.

Leading up to the event, I nursed my knee the best I could. I’m a little to NO medicine person. Natural childbirth says it all. But I took anti-inflammatory medicine and Tylenol for weeks to get it into my system. That sacrifice was worth it for me to show up the best I could be for him. For us. The night before we started, I barely slept. I kept waking up. The morning we started, my heart was racing.

I’m proud of how I managed the enormous pressure I felt on my shoulders.

We weren’t perfect but we let go of mistakes. We kept the energy up. We laughed. We really connected. Most of the time without even saying a word to each other. That’s something important to me in a doubles partner. When I’m sharing an event and time with someone, I want to feel connected.  I feel like he was exactly what I needed in a partner. He’s a competitor and likes to win, just like me, but he was really casual about it. And I liked that, because I’m that way too. With EJ, it all really felt effortless, easy and fun. And that’s why I could be my best even in the end. 

Throughout the entire two days of bowling, we were both so patient. We never tried to force anything. We had fun and were fully present.  For me, it would have been so easy to go out there and try too hard.  I did a really good job of focusing on the present moment and just playing what was in front of me. I literally didn’t pay attention to the scores at all. I never looked at the scoreboard. Not once. Just at the end, when we had won.

It’s not how you start. It’s how you finish. The entire two days we just gradually and quietly climbed the leaderboard.

What I’ve learned in my 20 years as a professional bowler is that if you empty your heart onto the lane then in the end there are no regrets. So that’s what I did. When I stepped onto the final pair I laid it all out there. There were five teams that could win. And I knew it was close. But I didn’t know the actual numbers. I just bowled what was in front of me.

Then, when he threw his last ball, someone said that was enough. I was like,” we won?!” A surreal way to win. Normally, the end is more concrete. It’s clear that it’s win or lose. In this one last game, there were so many teams bowling really close and depending on the bonus pins, it could have swung a few different ways.

We didn’t force it. We let it be. And so it was.

We were two small-town Indiana bowlers who grew up a decade apart, each with the same dream. To leave a legacy behind in their sport. It was such a special bonus that our stories merged together. I will always treasure the story we share.

I also have so many people to thank, and I’ve written another post just for them.