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The man who famously said “We don’t stop playing because we grow old. We grow old because we stop playing” probably never picked up a 12-pound bowling ball with an 89-year-old back.
That’s what Elsie Giles was doing Friday, as she does every Friday at the Brunswick Bowling Alley in Lakewood, Colorado.
The 89-year-old is the oldest member of the Alley Cats, a bowling league comprised of “seasoned citizens.”
On Friday the league celebrated Giles’ birthday with cake and cards.
She celebrated by rolling a strike with her first ball of the day.
“I love to win,” said Giles. “I just have always loved to be active.”
Plenty of the other “Cats” are in the same bag.
“As you get older, you still bowl,” said Bobbie Belcher. “You just aren’t as good.”
Belcher prefers the adjective “chronologically-challenged” to describe their group of a dozen or so bowlers.
A quick survey of the bowling alley found plenty of balking bodies overcome by determined minds.
“This lady here, she has a shattered wrist,” said Belcher, her own wrist in a soft cast. “A lot of the ladies have arthritis, really bad, and you’d never know it.”
“I don’t think there’s anybody on this league who would just scrap it,” said Belcher. “We’re just people who don’t give up.”
Giles’ second strike of her birthday bowling outing was more elusive.
“Fall, you stinker!” she yelled at a recalcitrant pin.
She picked up the spare.
The next time she stepped to the line, the spry octogenarian once again left a single pin standing.
“Almost,” she said with a smile. “And I didn’t even call it a dirty name.”
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