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GamgeeFest's Keepsakes  by GamgeeFest 11 Review(s)
MaidenofValinorReviewed Chapter: 12 on 6/15/2006
I had to review again and tell you this! I was sitting in the parking lot of a cafe, waiting for my sister to come out, and I pulled this chapter, which I had printed, out of my purse and started reading it again. I guess I hadn't caught the last line the first time, because I read it and thought "How extremely clever!" That's a cute little joke! haha, just wanted to tell you!

Author Reply: LOL. I'm glad you caught that last line. It sounds just like something Sam would tell to his kids. You know, I have to wonder why the dwarves didn't just leave one behind, if they were that afraid of '13'. But then, Bilbo never would have gone along and we never would know about hobbits, which would just be tragic. :)

AndreaReviewed Chapter: 12 on 6/1/2006
Absolutely wonderful :)

I love them all, but this is my favorite line:

The garden is his gift to us, and we are his gift to the garden, for we’ll tend it long after he’s gone and it will remind us of him.

I don't know if Hamfast became a gardener like his dad, but I'm quite sure he'll carry on his spirit!

Author Reply: Sam raised a thoughtful, insightful brood. All his children are testemants to their father's character. Hamfast does display much of his father's famous hobbit sense, as well as his father's ability to see things in their simplicity, and therefore to understand them more fully.

Thanks for reading!

MaidenofValinorReviewed Chapter: 12 on 6/1/2006
Oh...absolutely stunningly amazingly wonderful. This certainly made my day. I wish I could tell you my favourites...but that's all of them! I love Frodo's, though. A lot. And Ruby's. Wow...I'm somewhat speechless! Thank you.

Author Reply: Thank *you* so much! What wonderful praise indeed! Frodo's in my favorite as well, with Ellie's a close second and all the others close on the tailcoats behind her.

I'm glad you enjoyed them all so much. :)

shireboundReviewed Chapter: 12 on 6/1/2006
These are absolutely wonderful. I can't even highlight my favorite lines, or I'd be copying the entire thing. Well done.

Author Reply: What lovely praise! The Gamgee kids will be most pleased to hear it, for they worked very hard on these. :)

Thanks for reading!

RenaissanceGrrlReviewed Chapter: 12 on 6/1/2006
The last six words of Frodo's--*touches hand to mouth* OMG! *tears up*

I never picked that up about Primrose! Then again, waaaaay back when I first read the Gamgee family tree, I doubt I knew that Frodo's mother's name was Primula.

The last line of Tom's was kawaii, too.

You have again succeeded in leaving me with WaFF. ^_^ Now let's just hope you can remember what WaFF are.

Author Reply: *rubs eyes* *stares at name of reviewer* *rubs eyes again* *blinks*

:P

Frodo's is a heart-wrencher. He has a burden of his own to carry, and that's knowing that he's named after the one hobbit his father cherished most. At least, before his family came along.

hehe I just made that connection about Primrose myself, and then only because Primrose decided to share that particular memory. Even knowing that primula is a primrose, I never put two and two together.

Tom's in a way sort of bookended the beginning of The Hobbit. Bilbo was only including because the dwarves felt they needed a 14th member of their party to avoid the unluckiness of '13'. Good thing that Sam was able to disprove that particular superstition. :)

Yay! I gave you Warm and Fuzzy Feelings! (Aren't you proud I remembered?!)

BudgieloverReviewed Chapter: 12 on 6/1/2006
I know I commented how much I loved this in your LJ, but wanted to repeat it here. How wonderfully thought out this was! Each hobbit-lad or lass' voice is so individual and unique, and each's love for their da just shines through. My favorite was Frodo's drabble - the last sentence just broke me up.


Author Reply: How lovely to see that you enjoyed it so much to review it twice! =)

Each of the Gamgee children had their own stories they wanted to tell, their own vision of their father they wanted to share. There's no doubt that they grew up hanging on his every word and thinking the sun rose for him.

Frodo's experiences of his father were always somewhat tinted by Sam's memories of his master. After a lifetime of saying "Mr. Frodo", I imagine it would be difficult for Sam to suddenly say just "Frodo", even if it was for his child. Young Frodo grew up hearing his father address him as "Frodo-lad" or "Fro". He knew the reason behind it, knew his father's hidden grief for losing his master. Frodo never doubted his father's love, but he did sometimes wonder if Sam could love them as much and as completely as he did his master. Rest assured, Sam eventually set him straight. :)

Thanks so much for reading!

LarnerReviewed Chapter: 12 on 5/31/2006
Now, this is something I'd not thought to see, and yet, having read it, I can't imagine not having done so. How wonderful, to look at Sam through the eyes of all of his children! Lovely!

Author Reply: And now they're asking if they can each do a full-length ficlet. How can I deny them? I just hope they'll take turns this time. :)

His kids are quite insightful, proving themselves to be Sam's children through and through. The glimpses they shared are inspiring and show a side of Sam that we only get to see at the end of the books - how he grew to believe in himself during the Quest.

Thanks for reading!

rabidsamfanReviewed Chapter: 12 on 5/31/2006
These are great. I love how each one of them tells us a little bit about Sam's family and hints at stories we won't hear in full. And the last one in particular made me grin.

Thank you!

Author Reply: With such a large brood, there are countless stories the Gamgees could have told us about. I'm sure if you let them, they'd go on and on for days about how wonderful their father is, and they still wouldn't have touched the tip of the iceberg.

hehe Good thing for everyone that the dwarves were suspicious about the number 13. Otherwise, they never would have had need to take Bilbo with them, and then who knows what would have happened to the Ring. At least Sam finally set that suspicion to rest. ;)

Thanks for reading!

PeriantariReviewed Chapter: 12 on 5/31/2006
THese are so so so so sweet. i love all of them but Frodo's and Elanor's tugged at my heart the most.
"hope unquenchable" is one of my favorite nicknames of Sam. :)

Love this bit:
Mr. Frodo said in the Red Book that Dad would become a wizard or a warrior, and that by the end, he became a bit of both.
:D

and i love the Pippin one as well... these are all so well thought out and i love that they all love Sam as their dad and have such lovely memories of him.

<3Sam<3

I love these so much. ::snuggles these drabbles:: =)

Author Reply: "Hope Unquenchable" is really the only words needed to describe Sam in the larger picture, but for the smaller picture, his kids come through with very insightful bits of ancedotes.

Sam might never have wanted to be a wizard or a warrior, and may still believe that he isn't, but Goldilocks knows better. :) None of his children doubt that there's something magical about their dad, nor do they doubt that he would do anything in his power to protect the ones he loves.

Sam is the ultimate hobbit/dad/husband/friend - everything! And his kids wanted to make sure that we knew it. Thanks so much for reading! :)

Queen GaladrielReviewed Chapter: 12 on 5/31/2006
Oh, these are so beautiful I want to cry. And all their personalities are so wonderful and somehow right.
God bless,
Galadriel

Author Reply: Some of them took longer to tell me their drabbles than others, but each one eventually figured out what they wanted to say, what aspect of their father they wanted most to share.

Thanks for reading!

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