The Golden Ticket

Remember Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory? Not the one with Johnny Depp, but the old one with Gene Wilder. Remember Charlie's anticipation on the quest for the Golden Ticket-the ticket that would allow the children to fulfill their wildest fantasy of visiting the factory? In my house we had a quest this summer as well. It was not a golden ticket, but a blue ticket. And it was 100% fun delivered almost daily.



On the last day of school for the past two years, the boys have brought home a blue ticket from school. On the ticket reads a notice that students may bowl one free game of bowling each day of summer vacation.

I remember the first time I received this card; my instinct told me that there must be "a catch." Nothing is free anymore. Yet, this truly was free.

Bowling this summer became our perfect segue between events. It took Andrew and Brendan only about 20 minutes to bowl, so we would squeeze it in between library or sports. Often the bowling alley was a destination that we rode our bikes to.

Our local alley is nothing special. Rude's personifies good-old small town fun. A distinct smell of smoke lingers even in the mornings. The "regulars" are always perched on their stools by the bar, watching TV and chatting with the workers. The carpet is a faded red that may have once been burgundy. The alleys were all replaced this year so the look of the lanes was fresh.

None of this mattered to the boys.

What mattered to them was who won the game. Throughout the summer I would watch each child take a triumphant turn as the winner while the other boy looked dejected and pouted all the way home. Losing is hard.

The blue ticket represented at least $125 in money I did not have to spend; we used it 25 times. They felt like I was giving them a treat when we went there and it was FREE. Yesterday we bowled for the last time on the ticket. The boys pleaded, and I relented. I was so amazed at how much better they have gotten this summer.

The blue ticket was vital to our summer. Unlike the Chocolate Factory, however, there were no heirs to the bowling alley determined by the blue ticket-- just a whole summer full of fun.