Who is Luke?

Who is Luke? You tell me!

Submitted by Linda Jennings on 5/17/00:

Luke is my son, who I miss like the rest of you, but also feel that he is doing a wonderful thing, and I wish him godspeed.

Submitted by Ayesha Khan, resident girlfriend on 5/13/00:

Shoot.... describing Luke... there's a Herculean task.

What can I say? It's a pretty special guy one is willing to wait for.

I first met Luke at Shadowrealms, at my first event in the September of my freshman year in college. My high school partner in crime Caitlin Feeley convinced me to try LARPing, and I haven't looked back since. Luke and I didn't speak much for a couple of events, as the first one he was busy, and I wanna put it on the record that my very first roleplaying experience was as a companion on Conrad/Grimfang-specific module (*grin*), and the second one he was sick as a dog the whole time. So my impression of him consisted of a very tall shape speeding off into the darkness, and of a long lump in the sleeping bag of the top bunk by the door groaning in misery.

As time went by and we spoke a little more, and as I got introduced to the joys of AOL Instant Messenger, Luke and I started speaking a lot more over IM, then on the phone, and by the time I went home for Christmas break we were fairly good friends, and flirting like crazy.

So to make a long story short, so by May of last year... Ack! It's been a year! Who allowed that to happen? ...I had in the person of Luke not only one of my best friends but a (what's the PCterm) significant other. A gentleman caller. I like that better.

For personal reasons, I took the following fall semester off, Luke was taking the year off before going to college (we're only two weeks apart age-wise, but a year apart grade-wise) to earn money and hike the AT. And I'd like to say that for all the time I've known him, I could not ask for more. As he does for most people whose lives he touches, Luke makes me laugh when I am down, listens to me - and *hears* - when I need a sympathetic ear, gives me a shoulder to cry on, and hugs or tickles me when I am grumpy. He's always up for a party, but lazy do-nothing Sunday afternoons are also high on his list of priorities. His encyclopedic knowledge of the history of the band Morphine is somewhat astounding, as is his ability to consume ridiculous amounts of sushi. Though his most common uniform is a pair of khakis and a loud Hawaiian shirt (sorry, baby, but they really are) he's one of the few men I know who genuinely loves to dress up and who will use any pretext to wear his sharp black suit. I think it's because the black and red tie combined with his height makes him look like a Mafia hit man, and he gets delusions of assassin-y grandeur. *grin*

Originally, he was given the trail name “Cool Hands” because of his name, as in 'Cool Hands Luke,' as portrayed in the movie by a young (and sexy) Paul Newman. However, though some parallels between him and Cool Hand remain (such as what is described as that big ol' Luke grin) that name was traded for an even more appropriate one: Hobbes, as in Calvin and. This is because both he and the stuffed tiger are tall and wiry, overly energetic at inappropriate times, lazy when they can be, and especially because of the way Hobbes grins ear-to-ear, the way Luke does. (Michelle, take note: da trail name be Hobbes now).

Luke is the most loyal friend one could ask for, which is one of the reasons I treasure my relationship with him. And he makes a damn good gentleman caller too.

It's been tough waiting for him all this time, but I know that when he feels he's found what he went on a little walk to figure out, he'll come back as someone more sure of himself; this is something very important to him. So if one asks me, as I've been asked, “why the heck are you waiting for some dude who left you to be one with the tree bark,” I can only answer “because he's worth it.”

OK, enough sappy-osity. You all know Luke's spiffy if you're here. We're all waiting to see what you'll be like when you come home, so don't go and do anything stupid like break your leg, you big goof.

Ayesha

Submitted by Michelle (Cook) Mangio on 5/7/00:

I first met Luke at a Wildlands Event years and years ago. His character was a Hunter, and to see Luke dressed as a Cheetah - well, it was certainly an appropriate cat for mister tall and swifty here! I don't remember when we first met exactly, but I can recall some of my earliest impressions of him… especially on that day he ran from Rob, who is certainly tall and swifty himself! I don't think I had ever seen anyone run so fast! I swear, he was halfway across the field away from me, and in the time it took me to turn around, both Luke and Rob had rushed past me and were half-way across the other side of the field!

It wasn't until we started playing ShadowRealms that we became really good friends… Luke has always made things more fun, and he's always brought the right balance of humor and seriousness to every situation. Even when he is trying to find some way of taking out my characters! ;-) Luke certainly fits the role of the big, scrawny werewolf, and I know of few others who could have pulled it off so well. He can go from an angry and scary werewolf, that can sneak up on you such to make your heart miss several beats, to a huggable, lovable werewolf - and still make you think you're looking at the real thing!

But I think this statement of Luke's, which some of us quote a lot, helps to define who he is… "Hugs make everything better... Well, everything except maybe broken ribs."

We're thinking of you, Luke! Good luck on your Walk, and know that there are plenty of hugs waiting for you here!