You’re going to have to forgive me. Normally, every year the MS Walk (or Walk MS, this year) comes around and I write some tear-jerk story about how much of a struggle life is and how we’re doing the best we can.
I can’t do that this year.
It’s not that there haven’t been struggles this year – just last week Becky was bedridden with horrific diarrhea and vomiting that we were both terrified was going to be a relapse that would see her hospitalized again. We spent the night holding each other, trying to be brave and not bawl too loudly. But Becky recovered the next day and was back – if not bounDing, at least bounCing around the house. She was merely going through an “adjustment” as she switched from Beta Seron to Copaxone medications for her MS. But here we are, a week later, and I cannot get into a somber state of mind to write some sad story because Becky had me in tears today, I was laughing so hard.
I can’t imagine you will have much sympathy when I try to tell you how hard it is being in love with a beautiful woman who can make you laugh so hard you get dizzy. There’s not a lot of support groups out there for people like me, I’m afraid. I shall just have to endure!
Yup, We’re The Crazy Ones
Among the other teams at the Walk MS, Team N3RD tends to be noticeable without any help. Our team tends to “stand out” – sometimes it’s because we rent ice cream trucks as “support vehicles”, sometimes it’s because we’re dressing up like plumbers and throwing koopa shells at each other, and sometimes it’s just because one of us dressed up like a big fat pint of Ben & Jerrys. And consider yourself lucky I can’t find the pics from the Ninjas vs. Pirates year…
In a word, our team is the FUN team. We may not raise the most money, have the largest team numbers, and we’re CERTAINLY not finishing first. But when it comes to the team that gets up to the wackiest hijinks, has THE most fun, and has the craziest people, no one else even comes close.
Our team is made up of people so crazy, so absolutely insane, they travel across the country to join in. Sebine has flown (and one year even driven!) from Minnesota. Heather, Jesse, Nik and Dave drove down from the Boston area. Sanya drove up from Virginia. Mac, intent on demonstrating HE was king crazy, flew from California. WITH A LUIGI COSTUME IN HIS CARRY-ON LUGGAGE.
And keep in mind that’s not even counting our LOCAL crackpots who not only join us for this sort of nonsense once a year, but also regularly get together with us for no other purpose than to blow up some rebel scum. AND that’s not counting FAMILY, who has no choice but to be crazier than everyone else COMBINED.
Who are these crazy people, you ask? What makes them sacrifice their time, their money and their sanity for this (admittedly good!) cause?
They’re Gamers, of course.
Living Outside the Stereotype
Somewhere Jack Thompson is probably blowing a gasket, but the truth is that these people, our incredible friends – that regularly make huge sacrifices to help us and countless other people they don’t know – were brought together through our love of gaming. Sometimes it was a love of exploring ancient lands at the behest of an ancient wizard. Sometimes we were laying siege to enemy castles. Sometimes we were fighting evil-doers. Sometimes we dealt with rebel scum. Sometimes we simply needed to forcibly put down guerrilla forces. And really, since those days we’ve experienced soooo many other things, I can’t even link them all here.
That’s it. Those games were the bonds that brought us together, gave us common goals, gave us stories to share over drinks, gave us excuses to meet up with hundreds of other players, and gave us so many wonderful chances to meet a lot of great people. And that’s not even including the THOUSANDS of people from the other games we play (WoW, JG, EQ, PS, Half-Life, DDO, MxO, AO, M59 - do I need to continue?) that have come together to support us by pledging, spreading the word, or just sending encouraging emails.
And here we are again. While the media is currently full of ridiculous claims against gamers (with no other speculation than the inane ramblings of a madman), REAL gamers are here, raising money for a great cause.
Want To Be A Hero?
For our crazy antics this year, the theme will be “Lesser-Known Superheroes” (Captain Antartica, I’m looking at YOU…).
Apart from the incredible fun we have, Team N3RD is together for an important reason: we’re fighting against MS. Fun and jokes aside, that’s the cause that all of our fellow gamers, family and friends are getting behind. The money we’re raising isn’t just for Some Good Cause (TM). We’re raising money in the hopes that people like my beautiful wife don’t have to suffer ever again. We – team members and team supporters alike – are a new breed of heroes. And – now including fun and jokes – it’s about time we donned our capes and spandex in recognition of our hero status! Every single person that supports us – either by walking with us, helping to spread the word, or donating money – is a hero. We’re just giving you an excuse to put on the spandex!
This year we’ll be scraping the bottom of the barrel for some lesser-known Superheroes on the Walk. And, because you can’t have Superheroes without a Supervillain or two, it’s possible we’ll encounter a few super throw-downs along the way…
We hope you’ll get involved. You can sponsor someone from Team N3RD here or sign up here to join our team. If you’re in the North Carolina area, you can sign up for Team N3NC here! If you’re interested in creating your own satellite N3 team, shoot me an email, I’d be glad to help you get started!
On behalf of all of us, thank you.
And just to cover some minor details: the Walk is April 13th at Clipper Stadium in Lancaster, PA. But ALMOST as importantly, the 2008 NeenerPalooza is Saturday, April 12th at East Coast Gamers! If we want to be in shape to do some walking, what better warm up is there than to spend a night eating and drinking tasty treats whilst rocking some LAN-party action? And there’s a very good chance we will be declaring a new Guitar Hero champ, so you better come prepared to ROCK OUT!
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