Looking for closure: my relationship with GW…

I am still in disbelief that we no longer get to play badminton at GW. As odd and maybe even loser-ish as it seems, it feels as though I’ve spent the past 3 years of my life there, living in a bubble with a schedule that built around badminton on Wednesdays and Fridays. The bubble exploded when we were told that we no longer could play there. All of a sudden, the remnants of that relationship flew every where. When am I going to get to see all my friends at the same time? Where am I going to play?

Funny thing…my relationship with GW, a facility with two courts that shares an alley in the middle, actually began before I moved to DC permanently. The summer of 2005, I was an intern…a Californian getting her first taste in the East coast. Being in California means you never worried about where to play, gyms opened 24-7, it wasn’t rare that we began playing at 9pm and didn’t go home till 3am. When I came to DC for an internship, I left my badminton bag at home…I assumed no one played. One night, towards the end of my internship, my friends and I walked from the Lincoln Memorial to the Foggy Bottom Metro Station. We were strolling along when I heard the familiar “puck puck puck” sound from across the street. I saw Building K (GW) with a door half cracked open and people playing badminton and I remember thinking “how awesome..." That was my first encounter with GW.

18 months later, I moved to Silver Spring, MD. Prior to moving, I google searched all possible places to play, but GW wasn’t listed. Apparently, it was sort of a secret. The day after I moved to Silver Spring, I played at a Recreation center in Silver Spring. And it was there that a nice old man told me about GW where his kids Amy and Vincent played. And that’s how it all started.

For the next 3 years, GW became the place where a lot of my happy memories were created. It was there that I met some of my most awesome friends here in DC! When I think of GW, I think of all the games we played, all the times we cracked up on and off court, the handicap point games when the boys would give us a 18-0 lead, the times we just sat around and watched other people play because we were lazy, all the birthday’s we celebrated there, all of our 7-11 runs, all the bets, all the dumb (and in retrospect, funny) disagreements that people had due to an over-abundance of testosterone, and everything in between. I don’t think there are words to describe all the memories I had of GW. In a lot of ways, it felt like home. It was a sanctuary where I saw my friends, relaxed, and gathered to play a sport I love with people who love it too. I am sad that I didn’t even get to say good bye…but life goes on.

Someone told me that it is a shame that we couldn’t keep this institution going. But just because the bubble has burst, it doesn’t mean that all the good things can’t keep on going. It just requires more effort. And if that’s what it takes, then that’s what we are going to do!

Pictures are worth more than anything I could say…so here are some photos of my beloved GW: