5 events that have made me who I am

The assignment:  Write about 5 times that have changed your life. This could be firsts or simply events.  Make them about 100 words.

Walking onto the Ultimate Frisbee field, 1992

“Want to play?”  The words were simple, but they opened up a new world. My life can be separated into two parts, BU (Before Ultimate) and DU (During Ultimate).  It’s an ongoing love affair.  Since that afternoon outside the student union in Iowa City, Ultimate Frisbee has been part of my life.
It ain’t throwing a bit of plastic around on the beach. Seven players on each team, virtually constant running. What makes it different? The “Spirit of the Game”—self-officiating. No referees, not even at the highest level. The players solve all problems--supremely utopian model of conflict resolution.

Quitting job 2015

Two days before school started, I wrote a message to the elementary coordinator that I couldn’t fit myself into the box of life as a teacher anymore because I was sick of being sick, both figuratively and literally, ever day of the year—not only during the school year, but also during the summer and days off. I could not convince my mind to stop thinking about the plans, the kids, the parents, the future. Maybe it’s my mental illness, maybe it is my way of being particularly weak-willed (lazy)—whatever it is, it’s not part of my life anymore.

Confessions of a wife 2009

(Deleted in interest of privacy)

Dean Downer 1980

“I choose James Martin, pound for pound, over any of you pussies on this team.”  This, after I had feigned disappointment when Captain Dan Nielsen had mercifully passed me by during the “hamburger drill” when players in full pads slam themselves into one another.  It was during the pep talk (slam down?) after the first day of high school football practice; I was a freshman, biting at the heels of the bigger, faster, stronger upperclassmen.  Coach Dean Downer, a shop teacher of dubious mental facility, showed me the impact a teacher can have. Thirty-five years later, this kid still remembers.

Can I take Russian? 1986

“Can I take Russian?” I asked. 
“Sure! Russian, Bulgarian...”  

Wow! I was going to do something interesting. Take an unusual course that didn’t exactly have a purpose.  My mother asked, “Why are you studying Russian?”

                As is typical for my generally unsure nature, I stammered, unable to find words—unsure of the right thing to say.

                My dad came to the rescue, “…because he likes it!  There’s nothing wrong with that.”  This, from the same guy who, not commandingly (but prophetically), had said after I told him that I had been accepted at Boston University, “You’ll go to Iowa State.”

You might notice that each of these is EXACTLY 100 words.