Generosity and Community

TJ here and while I wanted to bury the subject of the last couple of posts forever, I am compelled to talk about it one last time. Rather than rehash misfortunes though, I want to speak to the spirit of generosity and community I have experienced in the last few days thanks to DFG readers.

First off and foremost, If you are a regular or just reading DFG for the first time now, thank you. The fact that you take the time to read what myself or any of our authors have had to say is something we take seriously and that we are thankful for - something I am thankful for.


Second, after having mine and a friends' armies stolen a couple of weeks ago, I wrote about the experience simply to let people know that they should be more watchful of their stuff because it represents more than just a dollar value; your armies represent time, pride, hard work, skill, technique and all of the time and trails it took to get to the point where you were when you painted or built that army. The thieves took more than plastic, but after I published our story, readers from this blog gave me (and to an extent my friend Wolftime) something back and for that, I am more thankful than I have ever been for the folks who share this blog with us.


The first response that I got that really got me was from CrazyBaldHead, a reader who runs the Basement of Doom, an online store with some serious gems in it ( especially for those of you who love metal models, and even more especially, old daemons, this is THE place to get them). He contacted me and offered to donate $200 worth of products from his store to help us out. I declined the offer on principal at first and WT was so despondent that he wasn't entertaining the idea of ever receiving models again. CBH was not phased and offered again. I caved and took the outstanding and generous offer, which has now created a huge conversion interest for me (which you will have to see once I make them) and got WT back into Wolves with a Long Fang Team and replacements for the Land Speeders which he lost. I was apprehensive about bringing him the models after how negative he was the last time I had spoken to him, but when I showed him the models and explained, a smile quickly spread across the geezer's face and I could tell he would be trying to find his super glue soon enough.


In addition to that incredible generosity, I offered some of my old stuff up for auction on Ebay to recover funds for not only my stuff, but to grab WT some stuff as well. I posted the sales on DFG just hoping for exposure, but what I got blew me away. My Ebay inbox was full of messages from old friends from Michigan, people I had met at Adepticon, an opponent from 'Ard Boyz 2011, folks I had met at the Dropzone inaugural GT and a few avid DFG readers. They all expressed their condolences for the lost models, willingness to help and their interest in bidding on items. Many of those same people ended up winning my auctions. I was blown away and could not be happier that these models are going to people who I know will use them and in many cases, folks that I know from across the country. The whole experience was surreal.


With all that said, I must say thank you again. Thank you for the support, the kind works, for just reading, for commenting, for being there for this huge journey the blog, its authors and even its armies have been on for the last 6-7 years. I appreciate it more than you could ever know and while not much has gone on here over the last year, there will come a time when I am less busy and insane conversions and models will poke their heads out more often.


Wherever you are, have a great day because you all have really made mine much better each and every time I log on.