Gulf Games 9: Vickie Watson

Thank you for including us in something that I never dreamed would become an event that was a must-attend, no matter what else, exhausting, yet exhilarating time.

I have waited until now to respond to the many kind things that everyone is saying about Tim and me. I know Tim has already replied, also, but I wanted to express to each of you my personal thanks. Most of you know the story of how I was excited for invitation from Ted to go to a gaming convention. However, I was excited for Tim, not myself. I enjoy playing games, but I can take it or leave it (of course that before ‘German’ games came into my life). We had lost our game-playing couple about a year and a half or maybe two years earlier because they moved back to North Carolina. For the five years they lived next door, we played at least 2 out of 3 weekends (I wish we had known about the ‘German’ games then!) games that we enjoyed, including card games (yes, Greg..with a regular deck of cards…I know you don’t particularly like ‘regular’ cards…and after being introduced to the new games, I understand why!). If we could not get together as couples, then Tim and Ken (the husband) played one of the ‘dreaded by me’, 40 pages of rules, 12 hour Avalon Hill games. He loved playing them and when Ken and Elizabeth left, we had no one to play with 🙁

Then later, Tim was invited to play in Ted’s group and I knew going to a gaming convention would be a wonderful thing for him. At first we thought about just him going, but I love the water and the beach so I assured him I would not be just sitting in the hotel room. I told him that we should go and he should play as long as he wanted to, I would be at the beach.

The day we arrived we met Greg and few others that had already arrived. I politely excused myself and hit the water. The next morning I felt obligated to say hello again to the gamers, so on the way to the beach I did so. Then off to the sand and water! That night I came back into the room and stuck around for a couple of games that looked like fun. I was extremely surprised that the games they were playing were NOT the above mentioned ’12-hour’ games! Some of them actually looked like I might enjoy them. I played a few and had fun. Though I enjoyed the games, I enjoyed the children at the games, more. I love kids and the fact that I could be around them and play was just great. And, I’m sure he doesn’t remember, but Timothy wanted to always sit in my lap. He was just SO friendly with the entire room of strangers. The other kids were great, too. They all were well-mannered and really good at games, whether they won or lost. I was amazed that none of them threw ‘little fits’ when they didn’t win or didn’t get their way. The games took a little longer to ‘get’ to me. I kept coming back for the kids and the organizing of the food and being able to help with the convention. Later the games became important, too 🙂

That Sunday we spent a little time talking with Greg and a couple of other people before we left. I told Greg that I noticed that during the convention, food and drink was scarce, but everyone was more than happy to spend the money, if someone would go to the store. I had made a couple of trips to the store to bring back snacks and drinks.

At the next convention, I pretty much did the same, (spending time at the pool or in the room and making a couple of trips to the store). I think it was here that I noticed Greg was having to do everything, keeping people happy and encouraging them to play games, keeping one eye on the snacks and the other playing a game or two. He didn’t seem to have any time to really enjoy playing the games. So I offered to take care of all of the snacks. He reluctantly agreed, only because he did not want me to go to a lot of trouble. Tim and I had also designed t-shirts which went over really big. So I asked Greg if we could do a few decorations, to which he hesitantly said OK. Again, he wasn’t opposed to the idea, he just wanted us to have a good time and not work so hard for and during the convention. I felt that HE was the one working too hard and needed some relief.

From there things just snowballed….never once did Greg ask us to do anything, we just did it and he was always so enthusiastic about whatever we did. Now that I look back, I get tickled thinking about the look on his face when we brought in a few ‘hanging pieces’ to hang from the ceiling. In case you haven’t noticed, (and you probably didn’t know you do it, Greg :)) Greg gives you a certain ‘look’ when he doesn’t particularly agree with a suggestion. And he gave me that ‘look’ when I told him we needed to hang these things from the ceiling. He allowed it, though. It certainly wasn’t the items, he loved those, I think it was more the idea of perhaps damaging the ceiling. A few GG’s later and he was offering to help make new pieces to hang and actually hanging them himself! And now Greg is worried about Savannah because the ceilings are normal textured ceilings and we don’t know how we’re going to hang them (suggestions?)! I have to admit that I never dreamed what a ‘visual’ difference the hanging pieces made until GG9. The last decorations to be put up was the pieces to hang from the ceiling. So I was able to see everything around the walls, the tables all set up and what the room looked like before the hanging pieces. After he hung them, (we forgot to bring our special pole and Greg had to climb up and down a ladder to first hang every piece and then take down every piece…thank you, Greg) I noticed a BIG difference in the atmosphere. I just hadn’t realized what a statement they made.

All of that said, you have to understand a little about me. I am one to help anyone who needs it, it’s just the way I am. I have always enjoyed making other people happy and have always gone to the extreme to do so, but again, that’s the way I am. Making smiles on peoples faces from seeing decorations just makes me want to do more. I also have always enjoyed party planning. When we moved into our first house, I used to be the ‘balloon lady’ (I took a helium tank–that I kept at our house because I rented it year-round–to kids birthday parties in the neighborhood and inflated the balloons), I also coordinated a lot of baby showers (we were in a young neighborhood) and adult birthday parties. My family and friends said I should go into the Party Planning or Catering business, but then I wouldn’t enjoy it because it would be work..not fun. So it was natural for me to want to decorate for the convention and with a person like Greg, who really hates to say no to people :), I was able to be creative and really enjoy myself. Tim has always supported anything I do and since this involved games, he was more than happy to ‘create’, too. As a matter of fact, he began to have as many ideas as I was having and then we really went crazy with the decorations. Of course Greg, Gail and Lenny also started coming up with ideas and our ‘decorating committee’ was formed! Now I don’t know how we ever managed to get everything done on our own. Trust me, if it weren’t for the Schloessers and Lenny coming up to help, you would NOT be seeing as many different and as much fun stuff at GG.

But even with all of that said, (and I’m sorry this is SO long, but I’ve been wanting to say this part to the group for a long time), we are not the ones responsible for ‘look’ and ‘feel’ of GG. First and foremost it is the attendees that cause the convention to be what it is. If I had ended up with the feeling (as I thought it was going to be before we ever went to GG) that the gaming room was just a bunch of ‘guys’ playing long games who didn’t care if they saw their families, ate food or for that matter took a shower during the convention, then I would never have wanted to ‘decorate’. It was the family atmosphere, the people really liking us and what we did, and the ever-encouraging and always liking what we do(even if not at first), Greg Schloesser, that makes this convention what it is. The decorations just make it look nice. The food just enables people to stay in the room and not starve. And I just enjoy the amazement on everyone’s face when they see the ‘new’ stuff that appears at GG.

Tim and I do not do this alone. The Schloessers taking out time to drive 6 hours round trip to our house several times between conventions just to work on GG stuff is incredible. Though even without the work they would probably come up, I don’t think they would come nearly as often. And, they have been a few weekends you could count on one hand the number of games we were able to play while they visited— Greg is such a slave-driver:)

At first I tried to keep up with the decorating and food by myself (unfortunately one of my biggest faults is ‘if I do it, it will be right..if someone else does, it might not be right’). It was tiring, but I still enjoyed it. Finally, I stepped back and said ‘ OK‘ to those who wanted to help. I learned really quick that helping people will do just as good of a job as I could and maybe even better 🙂 Now, I just handle a few of the actual decorating details and have a LOT of help before the convention starts. Please know that I appreciate all of the help I get, sometimes I forget to say thank-you. Most new-comers will offer to help also, but most of them are doing it out of politeness because they really don’t know what else to do. I’m not saying they don’t mean it, I’m just saying that IF NEEDED they will be glad to help, if not, well, they really like to look at everything and admire it. But this GG, new-comer Charlie appeared EVERY time a ‘project’ was taking place. He didn’t just say ‘ Can I help?‘, he would say, ‘ I can do that, let me do it‘. Thank you Charlie. And James offered to help in the future with the graphics….again, the people who attend GG amaze me. I don’t know how we have been so lucky to gather a group of people so much alike, so friendly, so helpful without pulling in any griping people, sore-losers, and other people who tend to ruin a convention.

I appreciate the thank-you’s, but please be pleased and proud of yourself for being the person you are. You all are terrific and have made me feel like ‘somebody’ in this world of billions of people. There is no place I would rather be than attending a GG convention. Thanks for the great times and the great memories. I hope I’m old and gray (OK, so maybe it’s old-ER and Gray-ER) and in a wheel chair before GG ever ends….Then again, maybe our GG kids will continue with the tradition even when we all are in wheel chairs.

I love you all……