Today was a weird day. Today was my eldest daughter’s first birthday away from home and today I won an ultimate tournament for the first time ever.
She’s 19 and at college, so it’s normal that she would be there, not here, for her birthday.
I’ve been playing ultimate since I was in college, and this was high school intramurals, so it’s not normal that I would get to play.
19 years. She’s nineteen years old.
19 years. I started playing competitive ultimate at 28.
I don’t know how many tournaments I’ve played in. Quite a few. I’ve been in the finals a couple of times. Big tournaments, small tournaments, national tournaments, hat tournaments. And yep, I am counting high school intramurals not where I attended high school (I had never heard of the sport back then) but where I teach a class or two, mentor a bunch of students, sit on a few committees, and am married to the job coach.
Nineteen years is my daughter’s life, so far. Nineteen years is how long I’ve been trying to be really good at this sport.