I turn 50 in a few days myself, and I've been playing D&D (and other similar RPGs) since the Basic Set. I still DM two weekly groups, one high magic, one low m

I turn 50 in a few days myself, and I've been playing D&D (and other similar RPGs) since the Basic Set. I still DM two weekly groups, one high magic, one low magic. D&D has been such a big part of my life that it is hard for me to imagine how my life would have been without it. It's truly been a constant companion. I've been gaming with my best friend since 1985. I met my first girlfriend in a game in 1990. I met the first woman I proposed to (but didn't marry) in a game in 1991. I became friends with my first business partner largely through gaming together, and playing D&D after hours was part of the culture at our startup. I once ran a 30 year campaign (1987-2017) which ran for 50,000 years of in-game time and finished with a time loop from the end to the beginning. Yeah, trying to DM with time loops and keeping everything consistent is a nightmare, I'm never doing that again. Nevertheless, it was pretty epic and fun. I'm pretty sure that I was always going to be an imaginative person, but I'm thankful that D&D gave me the tools to share my imagination with my friends. It helped me to make a good social life for myself and not just be a loner living in my own mind. So, thank you to D&D! Here's to the next 50!