Fond Friends

While backing-up some files today, I came across a PDF file containing part of the first edition of Advanced Dungeons & Dragons book, "Dieties & Demigods". This got me thinking about the group of friends that led me to download this gem...

Admittedly, I didn't have too many friends as a child (I don't have too many now, come to think of it). While most children my age (70s-early 80s/grade-school through junior high) were involved in sports, I was reading archaeology textbooks and encyclopedias - I was considered by many of my peers to be a bit of a brainiac, to which I have no complaints. I was fortunate enough to be included in Washington State's initial effort at a Gifted Program, which I was a part of through my public schooling. However, at that time, for a book-minded kid like myself to "fit in"(socially) was difficult, at best. Here's where Dungeons & Dragons came into play.

The state's Gifted Program was in it's infancy, and as such, "gifted" classrooms were organized by 2 years at a time - that is, when the program was implemented, I was in the 5th grade, and was put in a classroom with 5th and 6th-graders. It was there that I became part of a close-knit group of kids - the D&D group - Jim Hudson, Eric Anderson, Lee Gladen, Kenny Martin, Simon Britnell, and yours truly.

Individually, our members scored at the top of the IQ test, scored in the higher brackets for the SAT, and were otherwise brainiacs. I think what drew us to become so close-knit, though, was the creative thinking required to play Dungeons & Dragons (this is during the early days of the game, before the game got all that bad press about it, but I'll get into that some other time). We would gather every week (usually in the loft above Kenny's church) to play D&D. After a few years, we met in eachothers living rooms, and a new member, Dan Sauter, joined in the fun.

I did not participate much as a Dungeon Master (the non-playing "referee/rulemaker/narrator" of the D&D adventure players are on), nor did Simon or Kenny. Jim, Eric, and Lee did the bulk of the DMing, and the bulk of the "sleep-over" D&D sessions were held at either Eric's or Lee's houses. Eric and Lee were brutal DMs, and Eric often took the time to build models of the "dungeons" we were to adventure in. It was a full-blown affair.

Years have passed, and the D&D group drifted apart. Last I heard from Dan, he was an officer in the Coast Guard. The last time I saw Eric, he was one of Jim's roommates at the University of Washington. Simon, who moved back to New Zealand around the time I entered high school, passed away a couple of years ago from a rare disease. I haven't heard of Kenny's whereabouts since high school. For a couple of years in college, I lived with Lee's younger brother, Jeff. Didn't get any correspodence from Lee then, and I still don't know what he's doing these days. Jim and I, however, have kept contact with eachother, and we regard eachother as "brothers".

I'd give an arm and a leg to have a reunion of this group of childhood friends - we gave eachother a sense of belonging that other folks didn't. Good guys, I wish I knew what they were up to.