This week has been dificult for me. My wife's surgery making my attendance at Nerd Con 2009 as originaly scheduled not possible. While an easy decision to make my wife's health a priority it was a difficult decision to give up on Nerd Con 2009. So began the 40+ emails rescheduling the annual DND get together.
In the end it came down to one choice: play on the 17th with Kurt or play on the 31st with 3 Man.
Any white guy would have stepped up. After all I'm the one with the problem. The best solution was to step out and allow the weekend to play out as originaly planned. But I didn't. We were like two starving sailors adrift in the ocean deciding who was going to eat who. Except I'm the sailor that sank the ship in the first place. In the end the white guy did step up and Kurt graciously gave up on Nerd Con 2009 so that I might play.
Am I being a bit melodramatic? Perhaps. But I was sincerly touched, and I began to ponder, "why does this weekend mean so much to me?" A lot of reasons I suppose. I get to see my friends. People who know me not as a husband or father or employer or advisor or any sort of adult. But just as me, a friend. I get to see the culmination of my work, easily a 100 hours of writing, reading, proofing, bloging and emailing all coming to one glorious climax of dice rolls, whining and laughter. But there's more to it than even that.
Growing up me I lived in a home where I was safe and loved like not everybody is. But growing up with a step-father, no matter how well meaning, leads to conflict and misunderstanding. DND was my escape. Going to Donny's for the weekend to play Red Box or even to Mr. Do's to play AD&D with Donny was my only escape from the tedium of life. We would play for hours entertaining our minds while our bodies were stuck in public education and our parents dominion. I have little memory of what my characters were or what adventures we had, but I remember. DND to me is like an auroma that brings with it a flood of memory, a memory of safety and happiness and creativity. A memory of life enjoyed.
How 'bout you? What are your earliest memories of DND? What does Nerd Con mean to you?
17 Comments
Wookie7
6/19/2009 10:48:07 pm
"...of dice rolls, whining and laughter."
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Donk7
6/20/2009 01:54:36 am
I call dibs on the WINNING.
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3 Man
6/20/2009 01:58:37 am
You know I had you in mind Wookie when I wrote that.
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wiggi
6/20/2009 06:45:05 am
i just can't get past the 'coming to one glorious climax' portion.
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3 Man
6/20/2009 06:50:26 am
You know it's a good post when in it you use glorious climax and true love. Truly time apart does make the heart grow fonder.
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Wookie7
6/20/2009 10:32:55 am
We don't take things too seriously, do we? Heh.
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3 Man
6/20/2009 01:08:46 pm
Mmmm... killing dragons, friends, no responsibility, beer... No wait, that's me.
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sleeper
6/22/2009 12:14:44 am
So, I'm working at Furrow back in '93 and Donking walks up and says furtively, "Hey, so do you play DnD?". His tone reminded me of how one might be asked "So, do you shoot smack?"
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3 Man
6/22/2009 12:30:03 am
Thanks for a great post Sleeping One. This reminds me of when after three movies Silent Bob finally spoke. Profound. Have you checked out the last post DNDND? Something only a father could appreciate.
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wiggi
6/22/2009 06:15:07 am
sleeper - dnd, smack - is there really any difference? both are habit forming, both cost too much money, both take us out of reality. i mean really what is the difference? okay, smack has some 'minor' negative connotations (so does dnd by the way) and a couple of legal issues but take those out of the picture and i'd be hard pressed to see the difference.
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3 Man
6/22/2009 07:54:55 am
Surely you meant to say something other than, "Sleeper, thank you for letting me sleep with your wife."? Did I miss something? And why are we cool with this?
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wiggi
6/22/2009 10:20:42 am
no i said thank you for sharing her bed. she was sleeping with the sleeper at his house. she was being nice and making it safer for me and all others on the roads. that's the reason for only remembering some of my drives home.
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3 Man
6/22/2009 11:04:12 am
It also explains why your wife was so nervous about Nerd Con at first. Poor girl.
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Wookie7
6/22/2009 12:38:08 pm
Ah, memories:
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wiggi
6/23/2009 07:19:36 am
no josh. my wife was only a little anxious the very first year because she was pregnant. we played in mid-august and she was due late september but we had already been at the hospital once with false labor.
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3 Man
6/23/2009 12:04:18 pm
That's what I like to hear: long lasting love, with your own wife.
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Donk7
6/25/2009 12:23:57 am
You like to hear about long lasting love with Nats wife? I mean usually I reserve myself for Dana but OK if Nats wife is what you want ... you are the DM.
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Author3 Man an aspiring DM relying on story telling and gracious players to enjoy a little game of dice. Archives
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