My Best Friend
My best friend is Daniel Bishop. He's currently 22 years old and has lived his entire life in Wiltshire, England. His favorite color is emerald green, he collects seals, and he loves dragons. His eyes are the oddest shade of blue I've ever seen, and he has the most wonderful British accent. ;o) Daniel is an incredibly talented writer and is quite witty and quick with a pun. I'm his biggest fan!! He's great fun to be with even if you don't get British humour. He's also got the biggest heart of anyone I have ever known, and he wears it on his sleeve. He can make you feel like you're the most special person in the world and is always willing to listen when you need to rant. He is not only a special friend to me, but I'm sure countless others will agree that Daniel Bishop is a friend you keep for life.
Daniel holding my youngest daughter, Zoë
We met in November 1999 in the www.wizards.com chat room. We were both playing characters in the Emporium ISRP room. He was playing TuracEndeem, and I was playing Emileeza. It was only my second day in the chatrooms. We really kind of clicked in character, and our characters even actually ended up getting married.
We got to know each other through chatting in the room and also in AIM and ICQ. He and I both play Dungeons and Dragons, and my husband loves to DM. So we got a game going online and I invited Dan to play. That's when he met Christopher and they got along well. The three of us have been really close friends ever since. I know lots of people think its odd for an older married woman to have such a close friendship with a young single guy. ;-) All I can say is that he's great for my ego, and its nice to be able to give advice from experience... but most of all, I don't even notice the age... I was surprised when I found out how old he was after we talked more. He always seemed so much older.
Meeting for the First Time
In August of 2000, Dan came to the States for the first time. He went to the GenCon gaming convention in Milwaukee and then got a Greyhound down here. The very first time we met was about 8:30am on August 14, 2000. I'll never forget having been looking out one door of the bus terminal to see if I could find him only to turn around and see him standing there by another door grinning at me. We immediately gave each other a big hug. We'd always wondered if we'd be nervous or awkward in person since we're both very shy people by nature. Fortunately, we got along great immediately. That visit was great; he got along great with Christopher and the kids as well. I showed him my hometown and took him to Gatlinburg and the Smoky Mountains... and he immediately fell in love with the mountains. From atop Ober Gatlinburg's highest peak we could see for miles and miles, but it was hazy from the summer heat. I told him he should see it in brilliant fall colors...
Second Trip To the States
So he came back in October!! We went back to the Smokies during that visit and there had been an ice storm the night before in the mountains. The higher and higher we climbed on the mountain road, the colder it got and the more brilliant the colors til finally at the Newfound Gap parking lot, we stopped and got out. It was blistery cold! The wind was biting and the trees were covered in a thick layer of ice. But it was so beautiful. We got some great pictures of us freezing to death standing in front of an ice tree. Later that evening, back in much warmer Gatlinburg, we went up on the Roaring Fork Motor trail and stopped at one the pull-offs there and watched the sun set. It was wonderful. He took several photographs of it, and we just sat there amazed at how beautiful the whole scene was and how peaceful the woods get after dark. The drive down the motor trail was a little unnerving for him since it was dark and very narrow. He hated leaving the mountains though... he does truly love the Smokies.
It was a sad goodbye when he left. I didn't know when we'd see each other again. Its really hard to have such a close friend and not be able to just go hang out with them or call them up without having a fortune of a phone bill.
The Best Christmas Surprise!
That Christmas I got the biggest surprise yet. He gave me an airplane ticket to come visit him that Spring for his birthday!!!!!! I was absolutely stunned. Christopher was a little surprised to say the least. Daniel couldn't afford to send him a ticket too, but really wanted to show me around his little section of England. I'd never even flown before! I had always wanted to go to England, since I was a little girl. My sister honeymooned there and told me all about it... it was like a fairy tale place for me. My dreams finally came true in May of 2001.
My Turn To Visit
For months I had contemplated not going... the expense of food and souveniers, and leaving the kids and Christopher for a week... But finally when the day came, Christopher was adamant that I should go. He knew it could be the chance of a lifetime, and didn't want me to miss it. So on May 28th, I got on board a little rinky dink prop plane at the local airport after kissing the kids and Chris goodbye. It was so hard to see him crying, but I was so excited about flying!
After a layover in Atlanta, I was on my way to London in a Boeing 777. It was a great plane! The flight was long and I was going forward in time so to speak.. It was only dark outside for about three hours total. We landed in London that next morning (still night time back home in Tennessee). I was so excited to be there and to see Daniel again, but of course I had to go through customs and all which took forever...Then finally I came through the doors out into the waiting area with a bunch of other people from my plane and there he was ...standing there with a bouquet of flowers! He's so sweet!!. I was exhausted but so thrilled to be there... I'd seen the patchwork-quilt-type landscape below me as we approached London. Its such a beautiful country!
We had made lots of plans for what to do while I was there, including that first day in London... but traffic was terrible and he wasn't used to driving there so we just went back to his house. It was a scary drive. I knew they drove on the other side of the road, but I had no idea they tail-gated and drove so fast so close together. My phobia of being in a car with someone else driving was really making me nuts. Poor Dan must have thought I was losing it. He definitely believes in my fear though.
I could go so into detail about my trip but instead, you can see more pics from the trip with some commentary at my England page.
Dan and I spent some great one-on-one time together and got to know each other even better. It gave us a chance to see the other side of each other so to speak...He was on his own turf and I was the foreigner ;o) He did act more confident and proved to be a really great driver on those twisting country roads. He delighted in showing me his hometown and where he spent time as a kid. I am so glad I went. I feel I wouldn't understnad him half as well as I do now if I had not gone.
Not having the kids around to distract me all the time, I finally got a real vacation. We spent five full wonderful days together. Most of the time, we just stood in peaceful silence taking in the spectacular sights of Uffington castle or the White Horse, Stone Henge or the Roman Baths etc. It seems we tend to spend most of our best shared moments of friendship in peaceful silence. We think so much alike and are so close... we know how special it is to just sit and take it all in. I think others would just consider us very peculiar, but we're really the best of friends because we simply undertstand how one another thinks.
I met his whole family at his birthday banquet at a local pub and had the most wonderful food!!! All of his famliy are just really wonderful people. They made me feel so at home there. There was a big cricket match after the dinner and Dan's uncle and his mom's boyfriend taught me what its all about. Dan hates sports, but I loved it.
I have this big smile on my face just remembering all the great times we had during my visit to England. I'm already planning my next visit. Christopher and I will be going together in May of 2004 if all goes as planned.
When I left for home in the first week of June, it was a sad farewell as they always are, but we knew we'd be together again soon. He would be coming back to GenCon in August,... and this time Chris and I were going too!
GenCon 2001
Dan and I dressed as our characters for GenCon
Dan flew into Milwaukee before the rest of us got there so he'd get the room set up and attend the early convention things. We had to wait til Christopher's paycheck came in so were a day late getting there, but we did finally make it on Aug. 3rd 2001. It was so great to see Daniel again and to also meet all the other people we work with online. We both work for Wizards of the Coast at their website. The whole weekend was a blast!! We of course didn't have the kids with us, so we got to go out each evening and hang out at the parties with friends and people we knew from online.
Daniel had changed so much in the time that I'd known him. He was still the sweet and adorable good hearted Brit, but I could see a new confidence in him When he had been here the year before. He was more shy and reserved and very self-conscious. This year he was sure of himself, even a little egotistical which was so great to see!! I know how great he is, and with the women that flirted with him that weekend, I think maybe he began to notice that others could see it too. Physically he'd changed a little as well. I think by next August or a couple of years, he'll definitely no longer look like the skinny barely-past-teenager I met last summer.
2002 Visits
February:
Daniel, had never been here in the winter, so he decided to come visit this February. The flights were cheaper, and I was pregnant with baby #4. So he wanted to come see me before the baby was born. We had a wonderful time as always even though we couldn't do the normal outdoor sightseeing and activities due to it being wintertime. We did however get a break in the cold weather long enough to go see Biltmore House in Asheville, North Carolina. It was so beautiful. I hadn't been there since I was 7 years old.
Summer:
With the impending birth of our 4th daughter, Daniel came to visit in late June. He was at a point in his life where he needed a change. So he left his job at PC World and came here to stay for the summer. He has been so wonderful helping to babysit all the kids and take care of baby Zoë. As I write this, he still has about 7 days before he flies back home. Its been a wonderful visit even though we didn't get to do many activities like on previous visits. We are all going to miss him terribly... epecially our newest family member.. Zoë. She absolutely adores him. He's taken care of her and held her almost non-stop since she was born. I know it will be hard for him to leave, but we'll be sure to keep in touch via webcams. He's got to see her take her first steps! :-)
Very recently, the tragedy in NYC made us really stop and think about things. He and I may be an ocean apart and we might not get to see each other again for a long time, depending on whether we all go to war or not... but we know that we will always be the best of friends. Neither time nor distance nor war will tear us apart. To me he's closer than most of my family (not including hubby and kids of course). I've never had a friend I could say that about before. I don't know what I'd do if anything ever happened to hm... but I would always know I'd have the best guardian angel ever looking out for me...
I just wanted to make sure that it didn't have to take a tragedy like the one that just tore lives and worlds apart... to give me a reason to say it. I want the whole world to know what a great person Daniel is while he's still here bringing warmth and cheer into people's lives.
I love you Dan from the bottom of my heart... as do my kids and even Christopher (the old grump) :o)
My Wish For Daniel
Daniel -- I wish you all the happiness in the world, no matter what the future may hold for either of us. I wish you may someday know how much you mean to me and so many others I know you've touched in your life...even if they misunderstand you. I wish you a long, peaceful, and satisfying life with a house full of kids and a woman who can understand and appreciate you for all that you are and all that you do for others. So this is my living tribute to you Daniel, -- My Best Friend.
Forever
Patty
My Best Friend
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