My Short Term Hero

Clayton closed the door behind us and we sat down at the table as instructed. One of the two people sitting down was Dr. Martin, the director of the upper school. The other, Janice Carney, was a secretary and a mother of one of our friends. I started wondering what could have possibly happened that was important enough for Dr. Martin to have to tell me. Then, he just went straight to the point, and I was not expecting what I heard.

Dr. Martin stated, “Doug King died last night,” standing up and heading to his desk.

Janice quietly told us, “The only details we know are that he had a heart attack in his sleep and was found dead this morning in his bed.”

I was extremely shocked, and had no idea what to say. So, I did not say anything to them. I just sat there and listened to them talk to each other for the next thirty minutes about what was going to happen over the next few weeks. Doug King was one of the two men that began to coach our varsity bowling team junior year. I did not really know him that well because I only had been around him for less than 6 months. I just knew that he was a great bowler himself, and he was very easy to listen to when he told you something about bowling. Our bowling team would not have made it anywhere if our new coaches did not come along. More importantly, I would not have made it anywhere as a bowler. He taught me everything I needed to know about bowling junior year, well all the simple things at least. But, that was enough to make me a whole lot better and understand the game much easier. I know that one of the most cherished things in his life was our bowling team. He never missed a practice or a game that whole year. He dedicated that year of his life to the team, and decided that it would be his most important project. He got Clayton and me to the state tournament that year, and he was my personal coach for that weekend. I never thought I would see myself getting third place in the state tournament. I knew after this year, that I would have never made it that far without him.