A Delve Into Memory Lane-- or the Dungeon of Nostalgia

 Long ago in days of yore,

when dragons slept on golden hoards,

some bold young lads took swords in hand

to slay great beasts and save the land.

With goblins, ghouls and orcs their foes,

'gainst vampires vile, and evil toads,

(and some times both at once, 'tis true)

they fought them all for gold and glory,

heroes of their own grand story—

warriors, wizards, priests and knaves,

elves and dwarves and halflings brave,

Adventurers all, a fearless lot!

(But ready to run if things got hot.)

Within their minds great realms unfurled

bold conquerors of a new-made world

a land of dreams and dreamer's hearts,

a place that lives forever part

of boyhood joys that never end--

the memories of the best of friends.

-- To James, Brook, Mark, Paul, Bill, Frank, Jimmy, Mike, Bert and David.

And the only illustration possible:

Delving into my memories, a recently acquired copy of the edition that started it all for me— the famous "Holmes Blue Book" Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set (3rd printing, 1979). It even has the remnants of the original chit sheet and a sales flyer! Cue memories of chasing chits in the wind when we played at the picnic table in my backyard, before finally acquiring honest-to-Gygax polyhedral dice.

Thanks for the memories, all! May our deeds of glory remain forever in our hearts.

-- Howard, aka "Dunjie"