I have written already about the Chattanooga District Pickleball tournament back in the first of this month (February, 2024), but there was one other item that should have been included.
The 2nd day of the tournament was for Doubles, and Jack and I, had to show up at the Community Center in St. Elmo. The directors had set up some matches for us. Even though we won our age group (85-89) (against no competition), we joined the 3 teams that represented the 80-84 group and played a round robin. This counted as the younger age group's medal round and gave us 3 matches to enjoy.
As we met our first opponents at the net for introductions, I realized that I had seen this man somewhere in the past.
He introduced himself as Carl. First names are the standard for these matches and I think I know why. It is hard enough to keep up with the score, who is serving, and which server number you are, without trying to remember names.
As we walked off after the first game, Carl said "I think I know you from somewhere" and I replied the same. After a couple of minutes, he exclaimed "I believe it may have been church". That rang a bell with me, as we finished our match, and moved on to our next matches.
On the way home, I related to Carolyn the exchange, and she acknowledged that that could be the point of our common recognition.
As we waited for church to begin on the next Sunday, I saw Carl standing in the aisle close to our seats. He was speaking with a fellow pickle baller. (Carl is in the blue shirt.)
It was the moment I realized where I had seen him and why the recognition was sketchy on both our parts.
Most every Sunday, at the 8:30 service, this has been my view of Carl.
For about 5 years, we have been worshiping together at Brainerd Baptist, but never got much past "Good Morning". Now we are friends with several things in common.
Carl Ellis is his name. He is a newbie Pickleball player who has a good future in the sport. He made a bunch of good plays which did not look like a 4 month career in the game. Glad we got to play his team when we did.
