Laine - Capricorn, English Major, Youngest, Professional
Mike - Cancer, Economics Major, Oldest, Handy
In 2011, Laine and I met playing Adult Kickball in DC. At first I was reluctant to join the N.A.K.I.D. (No Adult Kickball Isn't Dumb) Kickball league in DC. I was more than a bit skeptical when my friend Mindy told me it was a great way to meet new people (after all I thought, I'm a little too old to be playing kickball…), but her badgering prevailed and I signed up on a team led by a friend of hers.
It is true the whole point of social sports like kickball is not to play the game competitively, but get to the sponsoring bar as quickly as possible after the games and socialize.To start the season off right, and drive that ever so salient point home, the teams have meet and greet happy hours. My team was to meet on a fateful January night in 2011, at Lucky Bar in Dupont Circle, DC.
When I arrived many of my fellow team mates were already sprawled around a long table, sending a steady stream of drink orders to the waitress. I asked for a Blue Moon (typically reliable on tap in DC bars at the time) and pulled up a chair. Some of my fellow team mates knew each other from past seasons and some were new to the game, like me. Our team captain diligently made introductions in the din of the bar, waving his hand around the table, remembering names in a way I've never been able to. Around he went, I missed more than half the names in the noise and the beer. At the end of the table was a brunette with curly hair, he said, "this is Laine."
She looked different from the rest of the girls in the bar, different from the rest of the girls in DC, for that matter. She was unique, with a wry smile and a sparkle in her eyes that hinted at something special. At my end of the table, an intense and yet inane discussion about 'The Jersey Shore' was rolling around like a giant boulder ready to squish the uninterested. Looking at her, I thought to myself, "I'll bet she's not talking about 'The Jersey Shore,' maybe she's talking about the Edward Hopper exhibit at the National Gallery" (ok that's a stretch at a Kickball happy hour, but it turned out we had both seen it that same weekend). I asked the team captain her name again to be sure I caught it right, but got distracted by someone behind me asking, "Did you see the last night's episode?" By the time I graciously freed myself from comment, begging off that I had 'missed' it, I turned back to the other end of the table, but Laine had gone already.
Over the next couple weeks, I came to each kickball game looking for her, but she seemed to have disappeared. Once she did return to the league, I confirmed that Laine was quite a unique person, and great to talk to, especially about 'The Simpsons.' Over time, I found we both shared the ability to recall Simpsons episodes for any moment or occasion, and that Laine has a weakness for tater tots after a couple of post-game beers. She really is a very singular woman and I am incredibly lucky to have found her.
