Happy Birthday, Tim

This is a guest post by my wife, Jennifer.

In honor of Tim Holt's birthday, despite the fact that this is a little belated (there were already two posts yesterday, it seemed an overwhelming feat to try to compete with them). So I simply waited till today.

Tim, I'm sorry we weren't there to celebrate with you yesterday. You are one of my best friends, and along with your lovely wife two of the people I consider most important in my life.

I have noticed in recent months a trend of "what do you remember most about NERO/favorite LARP moment." Why not turn the trend to people? On my way to Morgantown yesterday Bill and I were talking about those moments when we met our current friends at NERO/Exiles and how we either really, really liked them, or thought the were, well, total freaks.

I considered Tim Holt a total and complete freak. A significant reason for that was probably because his character's last name was my actual, real-life last name. Dave B., Mike E. and I spent more than a few minutes trying to figure out if he'd gotten it from the website and was that guy or if it was an unknowing mistake. We chose not to investigate it further in case he was that guy and for the next year or so, we simply gave him a bit of a wide path. I believe that he finally integrated in to our group when we realized that he was a bit of an exercise nut and we could turn that to a spectacular advantage (anyone that runs five miles a day has to LOVE those multiple trips to the shack...am I right?)

Then we got to know him a bit better, and realized that he wasn't that guy. Since then, a lot of my fondest and most awesome NERO memories have Tim either killing me as an NPC, running plot with him, or pc'ing with him. For the past 5 years, I've had to bring a blanket for him, because he is constantly disorganized with the personal stuff he brings to events. Character stuff? Let's just say I don't think he's ever forgotten his tabard. I've seen him grow in to a talented, articulate plot person, who puts all of their energy and a significant amount of money, heart and passion in to his plot lines. Every complaint, every grumble he takes to heart. As a PC, he mostly plays himself -- honorable, loyal, and protective of those he deems worthy. Everyone else can get ate by the "Giant F* Monster" (that's another story for another day).

It's been years, but best of all, this past event was the first time he remembered his own blanket.

In the words of Alex S.-- "Yo, wat up? I got a bow."

And so, happy birthday my friend. To many years of LARP and friendship, and many more to come.

In closing, I would like to now hand it over to everyone else. We've talked about favorite moments, etc...but what about people? Think of all the friends you've met through various L.A.R.P.'s, all those that you now consider important in your daily lives. I have too many to count--my husband, Dave/Stacey, Dave/Beth, Sara/Sean, Karin/Ryan, Tera, Scott...there are literally dozens. And I have very clear memories of our first interactions or different moments with them. What about you? What are some of your first encounters at L.A.R.P/best moments with people you now consider your closest friends?