My Dad, The Bowler

Bowling was Dad's sport. He belonged to a league and was very proud of his "unofficial" perfect game. (That's where one gets a score of 300. It was unofficial because it didn't happen during league play.)

When dad went bowling, he often took my mom and me. That was where I discovered juke boxes, and specifially, the Tony Bennett song, Stranger In Paradise. I still remember watching the jukebox play in the bowling alley bar.

Dad had several careers. He owned a gas station on Long Island with Aunt Gene. He owned his own company, Cilwa Mold and Tool. (It made rubber components, such as for the feet of appliances.) Eventually he got a job as an engineer at Bendix. He worked the evening shift, coming home around 11 PM each worknight. His arrival often woke me up; I was permitted to sit in his lap to fall back to sleep.