My good and noble friends,
First off , let me apologize for this post being too long and yet nowhere near long enough. There is so much that needs to be said and so many people to thank that I am sure I will miss some and for that, I am sorry. It is not out of disregard for you, it is just that I am so overwhelmed.
Over the weekend, my wife dragged me to Royal Archer/Trial by Fire (an SCA event North of Baltimore). I was reluctant to go as several events and the past 2 years have left me with ambivalent feelings about events and the SCA in general. However, My loving wife told me it was the birthday of my dear friend, Mistress Lorelei (Lorelei Elkins), and I went to celebrate that. Little did I know of her (and others) nefarious plans for the weekend.
Friday night we arrived and set up camp and the magic of the SCA slowly began creeping back into my bones. I began to feel more relaxed and at peace than I had in a long time. Sitting around the fire with good friends and new ones began to relax me. The reason I love the SCA so much began to dawn on me once again. I was even persuaded to tell the foolish “shear the sheep” story to their majesties (Eckehard Thurn and Jane Alexandria Fitzpatrick). On heading down to send some of my whiskey back to the sea, I looked up and saw a shooting star. I have seen hundreds of shooting stars in my life (sometimes even traveling to see meteor showers), and they were always just cool things to catch, but tonight I felt like it was my lucky star. Having come to shoot the Royal Archer competition, I took this as a good omen for the shoot. How right I was that it was a good omen, but not about the shoot. It ended up being so much better!
The next morning dawned bright and clear and I was excited to get to the shoot. I put on my brand new hood that Mistress Amie Sparrow(Amie Sparrow) had made me over the summer and set off to morning court to get it out of the way so I could go shoot. Seeing old friends that I had not seen in 2 years and being surrounded by friends that I had, made me feel like I had made it home. Time to settle down and watch court and hope I get to see some of my friends get awards.
Much to my confusion, I was the first one called before their majesties, and I assumed I had managed to say something the night before that they were going to give me grief about. They then brought up the Sheep shearing story, and I thought “oh boy, here we go, I will now never hear the end of that”. Then they called forth the order of the Laurel and I lost track of what was going on for a few moments as the weight of what was happening settled in. Every time I almost caught my breath and was able to focus on what was going on, their majesties brought forth another treasure to be bestowed on me that I once again lost track of time in the wonder of what was happening to me. Now I knew what the shooting star was pointing to, and it was so much more than I could have ever hoped for! What a magnificent surprise and such a wonderful day! I am sorry that I did not get to spend as much time with everyone as I should have, but as you know, archery was calling.
There are so many people to thank, i hardly know where to begin, wait that's not true:
Firstly, my wife Gunnora Grimm(Jenine Webb) who has put up with all the messes, including but not limited to setting the house on fire in my A&S pursuits. Thank you for putting up with this madness.
I want to especially thank those that I know were involved with the surprise:To the great braintrust of Gunnora, Amie, Lorelei, and Margaret, thank you for the best elevation experience a man could ask for. And for your amazing ability to keep me in the dark about all of this. To Gunnora, thanks for putting up with how difficult I made the simple task of getting me there. To Mistress Margaret Lad for coordinating getting all the pieces to come together, I stand in awe of what you were able to put together. I am so sad that mundane life kept you from attending this weekend. To Mistress Lorelei Greenleafe, for getting everything there and all the little pieces that made this weekend perfect. To Amie, thank you for pulling the strings to get everything together(pun intended). I Also need to say to Mestra Esperanza Susanna Flecha (Esperanza Susanna Flecha) for all of your work and help in bringing this all together.
I also need to throw a huge shout out to Mistress Amie Sparrow ( Amie Sparrow) and Mistress Miri Nader AKA Vadoma for a truly incredible hood with an even greater story. Vadoma actually flew out from Artemisia just to see my elevation (and finish the hood). Other than my wife agreeing to marry me, I am not sure if I have ever felt more unworthy of a person's actions. I can never thank the 2 of you enough for the work you put into this.
To Master Richard Wymarc I must also send thanks. Long have I admired your works in the Arts and Sciences and to have been bestowed with your laurel medallion truly touches me. I hope I can live up to the trust you have blessed me with by passing on your medallion.
To Mistress Michel Almond de Champagne and Baroness Philomene de Lys, for the most incredible box and scroll, thank you also for making me feel unworthy of the talents people were willing to expend for me. They are both truly works of art. I now need to build a shelf on my SCA wall to hold such a treasure. I cannot even think of a way to thank you for your generosity in time and labor!
To their majesties Eckehard Thurn and Jane Alexandria Fitzpatrick, I am grateful for your trust in me to grant me this award. I truly treasured getting to know you over this weekend and wish you a happy and peaceful reign.
To the order of the Laurel, There is nothing that I can say beyond thank you! Thank you for thinking I am worthy to join such august company. I hope that I can live up to the ideal espoused by this truly amazing order. For all of those who have supported me along this journey, and made this elevation possible, thank you for your trust and belief in me.
And lastly but certainly not leastly, to my household, The Honorable Company of Grimmsfield, Thank you all for both putting your faith in me as well as putting up with me. I know I never would have made it as far as I have without your support and trust!
To everyone else who made this weekend possible for me, as well as all of those who helped me along this rocky road, Thank you from the bottom of my heart! I know there are many people that should have been included personally, and I mean no insult to anyone I have left out, just know that I have treasured all that has been done for me in this great society!
Vivat Atlantia!