And Thats a Wrap!

Now it is Tuesday. Now it is officially Fall..... Now it is 1 year until Dragon*Con comes back around. This year was all about the boys, our new friends, our old friends, our families and trying to do the best that we could in the D*C store; in the location that we were in. The boys "wants" were far beyond our budget; Mimi and Nana indulged the boys in way to much!
Jeffery came up to the booth on Monday with a one-of a kind skate board that was done by artist Stephanie Romano of Teardrop Studios. see her TearDrop Studio site~! (I thought that I had a photo of her and I but I guess it was her camera that actually took the photo and I will have to email her for that and add it later) Stephanie and I became fast friends the moment we met and I have watched her doing better and better at DC over the last couple years. I look forward to the day that she calls me and says "Thats it, I'm quitting my day (actually night) job and I can now live on my income as an artist! I believe I will have to get in my car and head to Atlanta that day and hug the stuffings out of her!
This was a big year for Quentin and Zachary... They were able to "wonder" off (a couple tables away in the same room) by themselves. They were given a little more freedom to walk around and "look" by themselves. You may think that D*C has 30,000 people and that is a huge thing... What they did not know is that every security, staff and person that was in that room that knew me would be "watching" if they happen to see my kids...... But non-the-less, they were excited to have those few minutes of freedom and with the addition of Bailey, the three of them "watched" out for each other very well...
For those that have not "gotten it", D*C is more than a convention. It is more than shopping and panels (which thanks to Pamela dragging me off to a few writers tracks~ I actually went to my first panels in about 8 years!! Thanks Pammilla!) It is more than the costumes, more than the Store..... It is not how tired you get, not how many miles you walk, how long you have to wait for an elevator, how many stairs you climb... It is not about how mean the hotel was to you.... (and boy was the Hilton mean to us this year! Never again!) It is not about the hassle we got at the pool by a 17 year old...... It is ALL ABOUT THE PEOPLE.... For me at least... About my "extended family" who I may only see once or twice a year.... (or three/four times a year depending if I can attend meetings) It is about the faces of old friends who were there at the "beginning", way back when we were so small everything fit in the Hilton; so long ago when gaming was way over in the Westin and a few people with blue ribbons could use the service elevators and not get stopped. The people who made a cozy 3 day show the best that they could and if you had a blue ribbon you could spend the night hanging with the guests in the green room. Dragon*Con back then was so much different than it is now but that is not to say that bigger is not wonderful and exciting, just does not grant some of the same "family" atmosphere of those days......
Those people who were with me way back when... pre-kids, pre-marriage, pre-multi-hotels..... When the stories involved everyone and everyone gets the joke of "Covering the ballroom in plastic so Gwar does not get "water" on the new carpet" Everyone from back then knows about the Ed'isms and when we get together they are funny now... (I strongly emphasize "FUNNY NOW".... NOT then.....) It is fun to reminisce about those phone calls to Pat or those wonderful requests I seemed to have always been sent on to get a "check".... (getting money from Pat has always been like trying to get blood from a rock)...... AND anyone who knows the story of how I was introduced to Harlan Ellison: I would consider them to be part of that small family way back then..... Dragon*Con has always been a weekend that is full of excitement, enjoyment and stories... The people that I can laugh with, hug, and then, in the end, leave feeling better than when I got there. Billy and I shared "life outside" Dragon*Con, doing extra shows during the year for different cons (way back then) and can share some of the best stories including the time we got a drink at the bar and charged it to our room... We were working a substance abuse con and they were non-to pleased to see the "drinks" show up on the room tab....
It is the "old" guests, the ones that we hung with in the green room that were just starting out then and now are making movies that I love to run into, the guests that were little independents that are now involved in big projects, the guests that so many years ago were struggling to survive and remember that.... It is the staff that give up vacation time, staff that work their butts off to make so much fun for so many people....
Those days were fun, these days are fun..... It is all about the people, the new and the old, and I am proud to say that my kids are already asking when they can be "official staff" and what they need to do so they can be directors.... Long live Dragon*Con and its people that I hold so very dear to my heart!!