Young as I am, I love to recall my gaming beginnings.  Many video gamers puff out their chests after naming their first console or which game they first beat, but there is a largely silent majority that started in places other than the floor before the television.  They are the gamers who sat around reading books, rolling dice, and writing on sheets of paper, and they are the gamers who started their gaming lives with accusations of devil worship and witchcraft.

For some, Dungeons & Dragons is a secret hobby shared between friends, and for others (including myself), it was a gift handed down by a previous generation.  I couldn’t imagine my childhood without my gaming group and the adventures we had; for those wonderful memories, I owe thanks to Gary Gygax.

Gygax, loving called the "father of role-playing games," was the co-author (with Dave Arneson) of Dungeons & Dragons, and subtely shaped the lives of millions of past, present, and future gamers.  I traded sports for gaming a long time ago, traded sunshine for dark basements, but my life has been happier for it.

Thank you, Gary.  You’ll be dearly missed.