Major funding for Long Story Short is provided by by the Haile Foundation.

Additional funding provided by.

The 5/3 Foundation and contributions to your PBS station by viewers like you.

Thank you.

Welcome to the first episode of Long Story Short.

In this series, we'll be taking a deep look at some of the many stories that make the Cincinnati and Dayton region home.

The short films we'll feature are the real stories of individuals told by a variety of diverse local filmmakers.

We hope these stories are a reminder of our shared humanity building, empathy and connection across all boundaries.

Thanks for watching and enjoy these stories from your neighbors.

On this episode of Long Story Short, two women find friendship and understanding through their shared experiences and love of bowling.

And then a former professional boxer teaches kids to fight through more than bouts in the ring.

We all have plans for the future, but what happens when circumstances get in the way of those plans?

In this episode, we bring you the stories about individuals who, for one reason or another, are experiencing life beyond their original expectations.

Our first story begins in an unlikely place to find solace after losing your spouse: a bowling alley.

But that's exactly where Cathy and Gloria found.

both friendship and a new stage of healing.

If I'm here at 90, I'll be bowling.

I've been bowling too long to still be bowling this bad but I love it.

I'm not quitting.

I've been bowling for 60 years, so if I take 10 pins off here, it's like you gain weight with each baby.

It averages out.

How long have you been bowling?

Quite a few years!

Why is it important for you to come every week?

Oh, I can still do it I guess.

They put up with me.

It's not to bowl, it's to socialize.

They have to yell at me to get up.

to bowl!

It's just a fun league It's for socializing yeah, socializing and fun.

And everybody here is super nice You know, we just have a good time We're not in it for the money That's for sure My husband rolls down in the men's League and we do it together.

It's fun!

How's your team doing this year?

We're not doing good.

We're not doing good at all.

We're in last place We're first in last place!

That's what...

They go, "Oh, we're in last place!"

so I said, "but by ourselves!"

What's the name of your team?

Hot Flashes!

Us old ladies have them.

Thank you.

My name is Gloria Eberg and I live in Kettering, OH.

Come on, Gloria!

well got that one in out.

My husband passed away a week before Christmas 2019 and I signed up for the Senior Bowling League.

Oh!

Oh my God!

Do not say that word again that G word.

OK, I think, and my husband Dave Halloween night at 10 minutes to midnight.

He passed through the veil bowling makes my heart happy and you have to do some things to make your heart happy.

So they called me said by any chance do you have people looking for a single person?

So ironically that team which is called the Pin Pals needed two people.

So Gloria and I wound up on the same team together.

I don't, well, I don't.

really discuss with the other women.

I mean they knew that I had recently lost Dan and they're sorry, but with Cathy because it was more recent and she was married a long time.

If realized they're going to have this damn camera, I'd have worn a different shirt.

I got Dan's shirt on!

Because it's his... That's the best shirt to wear, isn't it?

Yes, it's his birthday and I just thought I'd wear it today.

Right.

Yeah!

Happy birthday, Dan!

Today is my husband's 71st birthday and he was a very good bowler.

I was always like if I sat at home in my jammies I probably wouldn't get dressed or wouldn't leave.

So now today I will go to a bakery, get a cupcake, put a candle on it and wish him happy birthday tonight.

Me, 2 cats, and a parrot.

So that's like, yeah, it's important for me to bowl.

Oh my goodness.

Bye, guys.

Bye, Kathy.

Bye bye.

I'll see you next week.

Truthfully, I miss him terribly.

I miss him really bad.

Dan was the nicest person.

Just wait.

Oh my gosh.

Lovely!

hi, I'm looking I'm wanting to buy a cupcake for my husband's birthday and I would like...is your carrot baby cake good?

Yeah, it's really good!

I've never had it.

Ok.

I would like that.

'cause I know he liked carrot cake.

And you have a candle here around nearby?

I guess I'll just get a box My husband would never allow the boys to have a cat, but she attached herself to him.

OK, fuzzy girl.

We're gonna sing happy birthday to Dan.

Oh, there is no.

No I don't.

Have one up there.

I don't have a match.

Not working too good, is it?

OK, Dan!

Happy birthday to you Happy birthday to you, happy Happy birthday to you.

Many more.

There will be many mores.

There were always be many mores there you are.

There you are!

That's the other thing I miss.

He had a nice nose.

Hi baby, how you doing?

Mom's got you some food.

Yes, Sir.

It's your day.

Bonus day!

Yes, yes yes.

Oh my God.

Oh my God.

There you go.

I have always loved bowling.

I love to bowl.

Dave and I met at a Turkey Bowling League on a blind date.

And then we were together ever since.

And I thought, well, you know, bowling must make wishes come true.

This is Dave, his birthday.

It's just him being happy.

Him with the kids.

This is when he we had Kirk.

I think Fatherhood was a big deal for him.

Basically, doing the bowling is my first step out from my form of Armageddon.

I love Dave more now than I did before and believe me the spark was there and he was my knight in shining armor.

OK, I write poetry.

It's my poetry, but it's about Dave.

Okay... Love's Turmoil True love doth touch the mind.

True love doth touch the heart.

True love doth touch the soul.

Which quest for the eternal mate rules over the tried and true?

Triumph's over embattled evils?

Is my cause for love of the heart?

Is my cause for love of the mind?

Is my cause for love of the soul?

or merely an impassioned embrace with love itself?

Well, I enjoy working out in the yard.

I enjoy it.

It is a hobby... plants.

But it is extremely good therapy.

Keeps me out of the house.

and keeps me busy.

So I don't miss him as bad.

I guess, so we'll go to the garage and I'll open it up and show you.

Now this I'm going to be... this, could be a job.

See what I'm talking about?

Now you know why I work in the yard.

I look at that and it's just a nightmare.

Two months after we moved here, he passed.

Nothing was done.

That's a lot of garage.

And, um... And now I have this garage I can't use.

So you know.

I mean my life was around him.

We did things together.

We, you know, with the bowling, it's just, It's just another extension of being busy.

So I don't sit around on Tuesday sad.

But now this winter, I don't...

I'm not looking forward to that.

I like this room 'cause this is where we lived in.

We moved in the house and then two months before he passed, when we were here, this was our living area.

And this is the picture I talk to all the time, and, That was from my son's wedding and it's.

And it's just... You can see he had a ponytail.

And, um... My go to chair.

My sleep chair.

And I swear to God sometimes I rub the chair arm in the middle of the night thinking it's Dan's hips.

I just, you know, it's it's it's form fitting.

It's snug and it's just like a baby in a blanket.

It just gives me comfort.

And I think sometimes that's why I sleep here.

And you don't sleep in your bed that you shared with Dan?

No.

I tried three times.

Have there been times when you felt like you didn't even want to get up and go to the bowling... No.

Never?

No.

No.

I have to honestly say, since Dan's passing, I have never felt I can't get out of bed.

I can't do that because, you know, what if something happens where I don't get out of bed?

and then I get my...

It's like when you have a wreck in a car.

You know, I had...

I had a wreck on, I slipped on ice I got so scared, out of control I go back to the house and then I said Gloria, get your ass up that hill and get to work.

I backed up in the turn around I went back up that hill because I was terrified I'd never get back in the car again.

COVID-19 is like a kick in the head, just like Dave dying.

OK?

It just closed everything down.

I'm scared of dying.

I think everybody's scared of dying.

At least I'm making thunder and making rainbows and and I get to socialize with people.

Warrior He won't bite you.

He's a good boy.

It's good to see you!

how you doing today?

I'm doing fine.

No huggies.

No huggies.

Gloria is my Dave.

My heart went sparkle.

She's my sunrise.

She doesn't realize it, but it's that recognition.

And, and, and... we have something in common.

But we, it's intangible.

You can't touch it, but Gloria and I feel it.

I think God blessed me with her.

I don't think this situation is a coincidence.

I prayed hard.

I need somebody.

I was looking forward to bowling even though I'm nervous about it.

Even Cathy was very nervous about it, but life goes on.

And it maybe means more to Cathy and I, but yeah...

I think our group would notice if we didn't show up.

It's a nice set of women.

I went ahead and bought me a pair of new shoes.

To match my bowling ball.

I really like the bowling.

if you want to say love it, Yep I do.

I started calling bowling lanes because as a kid, I liked making thunder.

I love seeing that ball hit those pins.

That is just a wild delight.

It's the same While delight I got out of seeing Dave every morning when I got up.

I want some gusto!

I want to have fun.

Life's too short not to have fun and here I'm sitting around going, I can't move.

I can't move.

What am I supposed to do?

Keep on pushing.

I want to make that thunder, bud!

So, any other questions?

For years, boxer Frank Rhodes trained to be the best fighter he could Becoming both physically and mentally tough for the ring.

but once that career ended, how could he use his experience and dedication?

This story shows what happens when passion and dedication are pointed in a new direction.

It's good to have fear.

Sometimes, it's good to have fear to get out of the way.

Not being so scared that you gonna run but you gotta have a little fear in a person.

You focus on that one person cause you're only fighting that one person I always had a little fear.

In boxing, you have to.

My name is Frank Rhodes and I run Queen City Boxing Gym.

Queen City Boxing has been open since the 70's.

I've been running it since 1999.

It was handed over through my trainer.

Jackie Sweatshop Enterprise Training and it had been handed down to me and I've been taking over the gym.

I started boxing I was in the 7th grade.

A guy was bullying on me He bullyed on me one day I lost my lunch money.

I lost my lunch money and he was picking with me at the wrong time, so I was hungry and I fought him back and I said that I felt he couldn't even fight.

I actually came to the gym for about a year or two watching and then I started getting into the boxing.

Then once I started, something I wasn't no, never a quitter.

And no matter what happened: Busted lip, whatever I still came back to the gym.

I stuck with the with the boxing for about 20 years.

And then I became professional.

Then I went on and fought to the USBA.

and became ranked #3 in the world up under Roy Jones.

It was, it was like 25 years ago.

And I know I was in the best shape of my life 'cause it was a big...

This was a big moment.

From Cincinnati, Ohio...

Welcome, Frank Rhodes!

We're watching the USBA Championship 12 round fight in Pensacola, FL.

It was on HBO in '95.

You have a little nerves, but you know once the bell, go on it.

You know you in a fight.

That's what you train for.

This what you prepare yourself for.

I ran every day and I wanted it.

Can't want it for nobody else.

There's a lot of sacrifice in boxing that people don't understand.

I sacrificed, I knew I was a champion.

I knew champion was in my heart to be a champion.

You know, I still feel like that now at the age of 55.

Right there, that decision.

That's when they put on the belt and I had went with tears... it was tears of joy.

It was.

It was really exciting.

I was proud of myself.

I even went to sleep with my belt on.

Cause I know that I worked hard for it.

You know you work hard for something you're gonna have tears of joy.

I never did that, just sit and watch everybody always trying to get me to do that and like watch the fight and comment on the fight while watching but it was like a real...

It was like a real touching moment for me.

Queen City Boxing Gym we got kids or older people come in and work out.

You got your young generation coming in and work out.

You know, and some come to be professional But a lot of people just come that's just, that's a fellowship 'cause the way how the world is out here now.

You need it.

People think it's violent, but you got a lot of violence out in the streets.

And I have people come from violence out in streets and come and be great fighters.

You know they change their energy around you got to... being a coach is is is like a father/mentor you know, and brother Uncle.

You know, you got to really that's what I had coming up.

You know 'cause all this violence out here.

We're right in the middle of it and we all get together.

It's like it's like a family just like a family though.

Oliver, he's 4-0 with three knockouts.

He won the Black Expo, the Golden Gloves and he's a guy, just, you know, he's undefeated.

He's got potential of being somewhere big in boxing.

Well, you have to train hard to make it better in the ring for you when you fight, that's what that's what makes it better fighter.

The Lion's Den, it goes way back with my trainer because we trained hard is like a lion It's like a lion.

It's like you gotta have that lion and we're seeing people come and go.

It's just getting mentally ready and then like come on push it everybody.

Come on y'all, we can't quit we're a lion!

You know you gotta get in their head.

You know, you've got to you've got to be mentally ready to know you're fighter, though.

I was fittin' to not be here, but they need me.

They need me.

They need that voice.

They said, they said it to me yesterday.

They're like, "coach, we need you!"

We don't need you to sit out.

We need you to be there.

'cause I know you're going to push us.

I'm the type of coach man I'm fighting with you and I get on you I know you've been training hard you've got to show me show me, what you, what you've been doing you've been training hard then you get in there and train hard then you're going to fight hard.

Being in the ring is a fire, man.

It's, I just never I don't pay no attention to nobody outside.

I just see that one person.

That's who I've got to fight.

'cause you're only fighting that one person.

And from Queen City Boxing... from the right corner... put your hands together for: Oliver Pritchard!

You're throwing one jab and falling in, bruh!

Get out of there!

He's making you look bad!

Quit falling in!

Don't fall in!

You're falling in, man!

This ain't no damn boxing!

You're doing too much wrapping, man!

Why's you keep wrapping and keep falling in?

I wasn't wrapping in round two... Yeah, you keep falling in!

like you're wrestling!

You keep wrestling and putting your head in... For what?

He's grabbing me... Come on!

You can't get close to him then!

Right now.

Ladies and gentlemen.

Put your hands together For your winner boxing out of the red corner.

Oliver Pritchard!

Well, Oliver, he won the fight, but I wasn't impressed with his performance.

you know, and I had to be a little hard on him because even though you win you still don't look good.

That don't make you better for the next fight.

We was back in the gym the next week.

See, they forget they're at the Lion's Den This is the Lion's Den!

I'm fittin' to show him what made me a champion!

What made me a champ!

The Lion's Den is the the lion that comes out in the people.

That's why we call it The Lion's Den.

The thing I think it takes to be a lion: dedication and hard work.

Running and training and I'm gonna show you the route I'm gonna show you the route that I did.

The route Aaron Pryor showed me!

That's why we do the Lion we say the Lion's Den Because when you when you dedicate and do everything you're supposed to do with that lion that lion comes out Y'all see the lion?

Please take a picture of the lion down there.

You see, that's a lion!

They forgot about this lion down here!

Thank you for joining us for more stories and episodes.

Check us out at CETConnect.org/longstoryshort And tune in next time for more stories from your neighbors.

Major funding for Long Story Short is provided by the Haile Foundation.

Additional funding provided by.

The 5/3 Foundation and contributions to your PBS station by viewers like you.

Thank you.