Happiest of Birthdays to the best Cecil! The world is a better place for having you in it and I wouldn't have it any other way. Here's to many more trips around the Sun!

What would I say to you that I haven't said straight to your face hole before? Best memory, maybe? We reflavored the walls once. Although, trying to sing mis-captioned lyrics to anime theme songs is pretty high on the list. We've had so many adventures! Some funnier than others. Some halfway across the country. I'm sure lots I don't remember. We've laughed til I cried, been other people, animals or humanoids, built friendships and furniture and a lifetime of memories in a short time, shared the best dogs and Vym (half-kidding), been each other's hospital guest, seen each other through all the crazy. Ran from the crazy. Nicknamed the crazy. Caused the crazy, even. Through the thick and thin, the happy and angry and ultra-sad, through pain and surgery and ruckus-rousing, long skype calls and breakfast sausage, across 6 states, probably hundreds of games and skeins of yarn and navigation, you've been my favorite person. You've seen me at my worst, and are not only still here, but you show empathy and understanding, lift me up when I can't stand, sometimes literally, and encourage me to grow. I would not be here, and would not be me, if not for you. You have changed me, permanently, substantially, down to the marrow. I hope it's for the better (I think it is), because either way, you're stuck with me. I have watched you change and grow, and stay curious, and I like to think I helped in that. It's been fun re-getting to know you, repeatedly. You still surprise me. I am so. proud. of. you. Read it again. You are my best friend in this world. You are framily. You are home. Thank you for being in my life. Thank you for being you. Still my favorite person. Looking forward to a million more ridiculous adventures. Happy [insert number no higher than 25] loops around the sun!

One of the first GMs I played with that made learning a homebrew system easy AND fun. Also, thank you for being a part of my first Gm experiences in Thirsty Sword Lesbians. Players make the game, not the other way around, and you were a huge part of me wanting to continue running games. On a personal level, I'm grateful that you're around when push comes to shove. It's been a crazy year, and a little Birdy a care about deeply told me you helped make it less crazy. Speaking of crazy, I'm so glad you put up with our party's brand of crazy, yet still manage to keep the campaign on track. Happy birthday, big guy.

McBain, The Mountain, Cecil, The First Weird Thing I found on the Internet, My Snail Mail Pen Pal from the summer of '95 (ack!! Was it really 1995????), Grainger... Well, whatever names I've called you through all those years, I'm really glad that some of the most fun times I've ever had in my whole life involved you! There's been lots of laughs, lots of Jack Daniels (how ever did my 20something self survive all that alcohol??), and lots of Mo's (I still can't believe I drove a fresh pizza over 8 hours from Marrero to your house). I hope you enjoy your 50th Birthday as much as I enjoyed that pizza when I finally got to eat it!! Thank you so much for being a part of my life!

Impressive pinery, good sir. Enjoy your festivities. You have earned the gratitude of many honorable lords and ladies. May we meet again on another sea. ~Your fave pyro

I may have once known you as Grainger, but I honestly only remember you as Cecil. 😂 I’m really glad you came to visit last October and that we got to see you again last month. It was really nice getting to hang out with everyone, and I love that my boys are getting to know their Uncle Cecil! I’m looking forward to the next time we all get to see each other. Love you. Happy 50th, Cecil! ❤️

What can be said that hasn’t already been said by Crow to The Lampblacks by way of pantomime and barely veiled threats? We met when Amy and I moved to Texas and were looking for adults to play pretend with. Games came and went, groups formed and dissipated - but our special brand of chaos endured. Endures. You not only allowed us to join in the mayhem but encouraged it. Safe to say Cecil is the first friend we made upon arrival to the Lone Star State. And the worlds of imagination we’ve explored have been ridiculous in all the best ways. As SERvO would say, “Conclusion: in honor of your birth, which precipitated our meeting and subsequent relationship I believe the appropriate carbon based life form exclamation is - love you, big buddy! Happy birthday! -Brian

Breena introduced us via Discord in one of his many D&D one-offs and - one day - we invaded his home state. Happy Birthday, homie!

I only know you as Cecil. I haven’t known you very long but you’ve been a great friend to our daughter and I’m grateful for that. Happy Birthday! I hope this Birthday is one of the best on your list and you can celebrate for a whole week!!!! HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY

I hope you have a fantastic birthday, may it be filled joy and laughter. Heres to another year, and hope to game with you again soon! Happy Birthday!!

EEEEEYYY! You're the heart of the party, dude! Cheers to future games and endlessly memorable moments. Much love :3

In May of 2019, I was learning what this whole Dungeons and Dragons thing was all about. A coworker talked me into running a game, but I couldn't fill the table. I put out a call on reddit, and Grainger responded the same day. When I'm feeling sad and pensive, that reddit post is usually the thing I think of as my founding moment. This is the first time I have shared that thought publicly, but it is undeniably true. I put together a little discord server, and we played together, along with the requisite crew of nerds and weirdos that such endeavors require. The game had several false starts, but I distinctly remember that there was this fight between Grainger and another party member. He told me he was probably going to drop out, and I remember thinking to myself that if he did then everything would fall apart. We talked it out, and he stayed, and a few months later that campaign died in a spectacular fashion, for unrelated reasons. Here's the thing, though - the game died, but the server stayed. I may have technically created the server, but Grainger was the anchor that held us together even when the original purpose of the place collapsed. In the time since, more and more people joined up. Many other stories were told. Entire worlds were conjured purely to entertain and maybe sometimes to outdo each other a little bit. When things here on earth were falling apart, the worlds we made together were what really felt like home. The people in them, family. Over time, this became much more literal. I live amongst people I met on our discord server. When darkness closed in, we held up lights for each other. I look back on my life now, and almost every moment that feels like it was worth remembering began with that reddit post, and that game. When my father passed, the people I met in this place we built were the only reasons I got up in the morning. I sometimes wonder if I would still even be here, if not for everything that spun off from that first, beautiful disaster. Thank you so, so much. It truly would not have been possible without you. Happy birthday.

Oops, forgot to actually say: HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!

I hope you have the BEST day filled with good food, great drinks, and better company. I am so grateful to have gotten to know you!!!

Yooooooo