Bowling with Super Woman over the holidays.

Here are the winners and losers and honorable mentions for the Annual Dobrzynski Christmas Bowling Tourney. The first thing I'll mention is that I lost $10 to Travis Dobrzynski as he hustled me for a couple games, giving me a false sense of dominance and superiority before offering the bet and then crushing me for two games. (Hey, don't hustle your uncle!)

All the other participants from left to right: My nephew Jake Schienbein, (Jake didn't actually bowl...) Travis Dobrzynski, Me, my niece Allison Taylor, niece Katie Schienbein, and Travis's wife, Tess. 

The real winner that I would like to mention is Katie Schienbein. With her high score of 136, she proved that a heart transplant less than 6 months ago can't keep her down. Yeah, you heard me right. She had a heart transplant at 29 years old just 6 months ago but that's not even half the story. 

Katie suffered through congestive heart failure when she was 2 years old. At three she had her first heart transplant. Things went well but that heart wasn't a perfect match. She led as normal of a life as she could, even playing hockey and doing what "normal" kids do but always living with the issues of having a foreign organ inside you that your body is naturally going to try to reject. 

Ten years ago, Katie had her second heart transplant. Yeah. I know. Could you fricken imagine going through 2 heart transplants before you were able to legally drink? And then think about having a third...

When you look at the photo above, you see Katie is obviously the smallest of the bunch--in fact so much that one would assume that she's still in her early or even pre-teens. I think her bowling shoes were like a size 3. But don't let that fool you. She is the absolute toughest person I know. She is Super Woman if there ever was a Super Woman. And if I were going into a fight, I'd be taking her with me. 

I'm so proud of this woman. I'm so happy that her recovery this time has gone so well and that her prognosis is so positive. I look forward to MANY more Christmas Bowling tourneys with her and all my nieces and nephews. You are an inspiration Katie. Thank you.

Keep 'em where they live...