Not a bowler, but she was such a great sport

Where would bowling be without all its personalities?

There’s a reason bowling is the most popular participatory sport in the United States. 

Here are four, for starters:

-- The amazing Carol Tucker, a retired pixieish bowler who floats on the lanes with a smile bigger than she.

-- The irrepressible Marshall Winer, a cancer survivor who appreciates all that is important in life and bowls with a joy few can match.

-- The energetic Barry Gurney, a 70-year-old pro bowler who wears his passion on his sleeve.

-- The powerful Alan Logan, who attacks pins with a take-no-prisoners style and whose “smashmouth” shots belie his sweet nature.

Yes, there are a lot of unique gentlemen and ladies of the lanes who make bowling fun not only for themselves but for others.

But this story isn’t about them specifically.  It’s about another person, one who never picked up a bowling ball as an adult because of weak wrists.

This story is about someone who was special in her own right – who displayed many of the same qualities that the aforementioned Los Angeles bowlers have. 

This story is about my wife – Arlene Eisenhammer, who passed away suddenly less than two years ago.  Tomorrow is her birthday and she would have been 59. 

She was no bowler, but she was such a great sport and would have been a great addition to any bowling league.

Take some of the sport’s distinctive qualities:

Socializing:  Arlene would have fit in perfectly in any league.  She loved interacting with people and would always make others feel like they were the most important people in the world.  She belonged to three social clubs and was president of the Agoura Newcomers Club for two years.  Arlene, who lived for the last 17 years in Agoura Hills, also was a member of the Pomegrante Guild of Judaic Needlework and the Binky Patrol, which makes blankets for sick and needy children.  She loved people, she loved friends and she would have loved Carol Tucker, Marshall Winer, Barry Gurney and Alan Logan.

Competition and sportsmanship:  Bowlers are well-known for exhibiting tremendous sportsmanship, congratulating opponents for their bowling success but saving their biggest cheers for their teammates.  As for Arlene, there was no bigger UCLA basketball fan.  Of course, she went to college there during the prosperous John Wooden era and I heard about it – as I, by contrast, attended basketball-poor University of Illinois. My most enduring basketball-related memory of Arlene was taking her back to UCLA’s Pauley Pavilion about five years ago to watch a hotly contested Pac-10 game and she stood among the UCLA crowd before the game – and started crying.   She was with her people – her UCLA people – and it brought back memories of her student days when UCLA basketball ruled the world and she was part of it.

Also a giver, Arlene presented dozens of personalized pillows to friends and neighbors.  She once gave a couple across the street a pillow with the name “Peaches” on it.   “Peaches” was the name of the pair’s beloved parakeet.

Exercise:  Bowlers often find that their league play doesn’t suffice for a workout.  Take former Los Angeles Dodger infielder Rick Auerbach, who has been reincarnated as a top amateur bowler.  Auerbach often will bowl 20 games in a night – just for practice.  Arlene’s favorite exercise was swimming.   During the summer months just a few years ago, Arlene swam 95 laps a day.  When she first started swimming, she could barely make 10 laps without getting fatigued.  But she was a passionate swimmer and it showed as the years went on.

So Arlene, happy birthday.  I love you. 

With you, there were no open frames, only strikes.