Pick:

Noun

1) an act or the right of selecting something from among a group of alternatives.

"take your pick from our extensive menu”

2) BASKETBALL

an act of blocking or screening a defensive player from the ball handler.

3) ULTIMATE FRISBEE

a violation in the sport of ultimate frisbee that occurs whenever an offensive player moves in a manner that causes a defensive player guarding (3.E) an offensive player to be obstructed by another player.

“I met Alex when I was guarding him at frisbee. He kept running me through other players. He says I yelled at him, I say that I just called a pick”

I remember meeting Alex at our local ultimate frisbee pick-up group. I'm not sure how I was somehow matched against a 6 foot 4 inch guy - my guess is he had never played before, so his friends had him guard the lady on the other team.

At any rate after being run through groups of people at least a few times, I loudly called out “pick,” to stop play as per the rules of the game.

He says I yelled at him.

To be fair, I do remember that day and remember getting frustrated. But I was also dating someone else at the time.

A few weeks later, I was very suddenly single.

And that was the day I remember really meeting Alex. I had the foresight to get dumped in my apartment parking lot, only a few minutes walk from the local Fox and Hound where everyone had met up after ultimate.

I remember sitting on the floor with my good friend Tony to let him know what had happened. And then, the tall, blonde guy from ultimate was sitting next to us.

I don't remember if I actually knew his name then, but I was just surprised that he had joined us and was offering his sympathy.

I remember the next time we went to Fox and Hound after frisbee. It was starting to rain and when he saw my car he waited for me with his umbrella and walked me in.

And I remember dinner the time after that. It was a different restaurant and there were maybe 10 of us all at one big table.

I remember at one point in time Alex had gotten up (I knew his name by then) so I stole his seat. When he came back, I remember that I pretended to be him and he responded by pretending to be me. My impression of him was basically “Hi, I'm Alex, I'm tall and ride motorcycles.” (My impressions of him have only gotten worse). I remember ordering a White Russian and was happy to let him have a sip since he said he'd never had one before.

Dinner finished, most of our friends were headed across the street to play pool at the Fox and Hound, but I was headed home to work on homework for my residency program. Alex and I stayed back, talking for a bit. We were ALMOST the last two to leave when a third friend came out of the bathroom and we all went our separate ways.

At 10:21pm that night, I was working on my homework when I got the following message:

“Hey Lisa, you left before I could ask you. Would you like to grab dinner sometime this or next week? [Would have loved to do it in person, but you bailed]”

I didn't know how to respond, so I texted Tony…who just so happened to be sitting right next to Alex.

You can guess what happened next.

In the almost nine years that Alex and I have been together, I am constantly amazed by what a wonderful man he is.

He makes me laugh every day. He is not only incredibly caring but beyond generous to not only myself but everyone around him. He's incredibly brilliant and thoughtful and dedicated in everything he does.

I don't think I'll ever have enough space to write about all the wonderful ways he's supported me, challenged me or surprised me over the years. But I think this one email he sent to our frisbee team last year sums it all up

“All,

I'll keep this short:

What: Due to benefits listed below, I've decided to propose to Lisa [+ I'm tired of paying rent to the landlord]

When: Aug 5th @ 11am

More Detailed Plan:

Photographer gets there at 10:40am

- The plan is to do it at 11am:

- If there is a game, we call a quick timeout - I do business

- If it's a break/bye - I do business

- We go take a few additional pictures till 11:40am, somewhere locally.

[If it's a good time, we should probably ask the photographer to take a picture of the whole team. I just want to mindful to the other team, if it's mid-game]

Why:

- Tax benefits

- Joint estate

- Health Insurance

- Personal physical therapist [and if I yell loudly, available 24/7]

Does she know: most likely yes + she will murder me if it doesn't happen "soon" (please send help)

What I need from you:

Nothing really; since we still don't know the schedule - I'm not entirely sure how to plan for this.

If there is a game going on, I'll just ask one of you to call a time out. Otherwise, we improvise on the spot.

That's all,

Alex”

To this day, I still feel blessed that he picked me

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