Anniversary

Dear Jack,

I would say stop me if you've heard this story, but you know how I love to tell it....

In 1998, my senior year, I started hanging out with a group of guys from my service fraternity, Alpha Phi Omega. The trouble was that every weekend, they would just... disappear. I would try to make plans with several of them, just group things really, and every one would give me the same answer, "Sorry. I can't. Jeremy's coming up this weekend."

Jeremy?

Who is this guy that not one, but five other guys were rearranging their weekends for and what in the world were they doing?

It turned out that they were playing a game called Dungeons and Dragons; a game which requires one person to tell a story that they others will respond to and create a game out of.

It takes a special person to run a game like that and this Jeremy was that person.

One weekend later, I was part of the game and within a month, your dad asked me out... via instant messenger on the computer.

We spent the next almost five years of our dating relationship playing D&D off and on, more on than off.

So when our 8th wedding anniversary was approaching and your dad asked me what I wanted, this is what I told him.

I wanted to revisit our old dating days.

I know, romantic man that he is these days, he was trying to remember what restaurant we went to on our first date.

No, I said, I want to play D&D. Will you run a game for me?

So for our anniversary, your dad invited four guys over and once again I was the only woman around the table as we played.

I love that game, and I love that your dad still knows how to tell a good story. It's what attracted me to him in the first place and I know that my enjoyment of a game that mostly dudes play is a key component in his initial attraction to me. And that's what I really wanted for our anniversary... a little reminder of that spark for us both.

Love,
Mom