Dear Mr. Terry Pratchett and the Discworld Community
A long time ago, through pure serendipity, I came across my first Discworld book: Small Gods. It was quite possibly one of the most insightful, enjoyable and clever books I had ever had the pleasure of reading. Small Gods led to Reaper Man. Reaper Man led to Night Watch. Night Watch led to the most voracious appetite for the works of an author I have ever known. I introduced the writings of Terry Pratchett to my girlfriend back then; a woman I had only begun to date.
You made us laugh together. You made us think. You helped us to bond. When times were good we would follow along with Commander Vimes as he tried to crush out evil and stupidity with the incredibly thin soles of his boots. When times weren't so good, I would turn to the stories of Rincewind and realize that no matter how bad it was, it could always be worse. At least I never had a homicidal box on legs following behind me.
Terry, with the aid of your stories and your humor, my girlfriend and I became ever closer through the intervening years. I am proud to say that that woman is now my wife. We got married a few short months ago and as a wedding gift to us, knowing our mutual love for your stories, my father hand carved out of cherry wood the most epic cake stand the world has ever seen. He carved a giant turtle with four unique elephants riding on it's back. He brought me in to help him and I truly cherish my memories of him and I in the shop slowly sanding and shaping the form of the elephants and detailing the scales of the turtle. A year and a half of continuous effort and roughly 1000 man hours of dedicated work ensured that the turtle was done roughly 2 weeks before the wedding.
The table top measures just over two feet round. The turtle is roughly three feet long from tip to tail and weighs in at a healthy 80 pounds. The whole thing sits 16 inches off the base. As I mentioned previously, the whole thing was carved by hand.
Shortly after the wedding, my wife and I moved across the country. We live in Canada and we moved from one coast to the other. When you live in Canada, moving across the country truly means something. I built a special crate for transporting it with us and my new friends who helped us move into our first place could not stop talking about it. That cake stand my Dad carved is now the centerpiece and coffee table in my first home. Every day we see it and every day I am reminded of the time him and I spent. It is our most prized possession.
I have included the pictures that our wedding photographers took on the day. While it did take a little explaining to the uninitiated at the wedding, the A'tuin cake stand was a roaring success. It was the most photographed wedding cake that I have ever seen. I have also included several pictures from our big unveiling shortly before the wedding. The handsome gentleman in the one picture is my wonderful father.
Since this whole thing was ultimately your idea, we wanted to let you share in on the joy and what is now our greatest treasure.
Thank You for all the memories.
A long time ago, through pure serendipity, I came across my first Discworld book: Small Gods. It was quite possibly one of the most insightful, enjoyable and clever books I had ever had the pleasure of reading. Small Gods led to Reaper Man. Reaper Man led to Night Watch. Night Watch led to the most voracious appetite for the works of an author I have ever known. I introduced the writings of Terry Pratchett to my girlfriend back then; a woman I had only begun to date.
You made us laugh together. You made us think. You helped us to bond. When times were good we would follow along with Commander Vimes as he tried to crush out evil and stupidity with the incredibly thin soles of his boots. When times weren't so good, I would turn to the stories of Rincewind and realize that no matter how bad it was, it could always be worse. At least I never had a homicidal box on legs following behind me.
Terry, with the aid of your stories and your humor, my girlfriend and I became ever closer through the intervening years. I am proud to say that that woman is now my wife. We got married a few short months ago and as a wedding gift to us, knowing our mutual love for your stories, my father hand carved out of cherry wood the most epic cake stand the world has ever seen. He carved a giant turtle with four unique elephants riding on it's back. He brought me in to help him and I truly cherish my memories of him and I in the shop slowly sanding and shaping the form of the elephants and detailing the scales of the turtle. A year and a half of continuous effort and roughly 1000 man hours of dedicated work ensured that the turtle was done roughly 2 weeks before the wedding.
The table top measures just over two feet round. The turtle is roughly three feet long from tip to tail and weighs in at a healthy 80 pounds. The whole thing sits 16 inches off the base. As I mentioned previously, the whole thing was carved by hand.
Shortly after the wedding, my wife and I moved across the country. We live in Canada and we moved from one coast to the other. When you live in Canada, moving across the country truly means something. I built a special crate for transporting it with us and my new friends who helped us move into our first place could not stop talking about it. That cake stand my Dad carved is now the centerpiece and coffee table in my first home. Every day we see it and every day I am reminded of the time him and I spent. It is our most prized possession.
I have included the pictures that our wedding photographers took on the day. While it did take a little explaining to the uninitiated at the wedding, the A'tuin cake stand was a roaring success. It was the most photographed wedding cake that I have ever seen. I have also included several pictures from our big unveiling shortly before the wedding. The handsome gentleman in the one picture is my wonderful father.
Since this whole thing was ultimately your idea, we wanted to let you share in on the joy and what is now our greatest treasure.
Thank You for all the memories.
