Gigi Rutkowski
Creator of the
legendary Christmas Carol Puzzle
Story written
by Rick Archer
December 2024
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Rick Archer's Note: On February 25, 2024, I received
the following email:
Hello Sir,
I am not sure if you or this email are still interested (or
active), but I wandered across your SSQQ
site this morning and viewed a page
titled
Original Christmas Puzzle . I can most
definitely solve the mystery of the origin of the Christmas
Carol game cartoon. I drew this
back around 1995.
My name is Gigi Rutkowski, from Brookfield, Wisconsin.
And I assure you that I drew the original form of this
game. I worked at Elmbrook Memorial Hospital (EMH) in
Brookfield, WI in the marketing department for most of my
career (I am now 65 and retired). Back in the 1990s, the
marketing department put out a weekly publication for EMH
employees called "News and Notes". It was a two sided, card
stock newsletter which was placed in every department box as
well as on holders in the hospital's cafeteria. Some time
in the mid 1990's (I worked there 1990 - 2016), I would say
1995 - 1997ish, I created the cartoon for one side of the
News and Notes for Christmas week. No, I didn't sign it
(probably should have in retrospect. But
it truly wasn't a big deal for me). I did little cartoon
drawings here and there for friends, families, co-workers,
but never took it too seriously. I drew this, made copies,
distributed them and that was that for me. I do recall a
few people asking/telling me they were taking the copies
home to use at their own Christmas gatherings. I never
dreamt it would "go viral". In a hospital, that's something
you never want to hear! LOL
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Rick Archer: So what exactly is this lady
talking about?
As way of Introduction, from 1978-2010 I was the owner of
SSQQ, a dance studio located in Houston, Texas. My
studio was very popular. With 1,400 people walking
through our doors per week, I have good reason to believe at
the turn of the Millennium SSQQ was the largest independent
dance studio in America. By the way, in case you are
curious, SSQQ stands for slow slow quick
quick, the rhythm of the Texas Twostep.
One evening in 1996, Marla Jennings, one of my
dance instructors, handed me a xeroxed copy of 24 drawings
(by coincidence, my wife's name is also 'Marla'). Each
frame was said to represent a well-known Christmas Carol. Intrigued by Marla's puzzle, I tried solving it, but
I didn't do very well. My problem was that I had at best an average knowledge of
Christmas Carol titles. Nevertheless, I was definitely amused. Planning
to study it later, I took
the puzzle home, dropped it in a pile of papers and forgot about
it.
Three years later I ran across the
puzzle again during "clean up" day in my
office. I was surprised to find it hiding under a pile
of papers on my desk. The Original Puzzle was in the
same spot I had dropped it back in 1996, but layers upon
layers of
other papers had long since covered it up. Amused, I
tried solving the puzzle again. I didn't do any better, but
like before I was very taken by its charm. I might have a use
for this puzzle.
1999 was an interesting year for me. 1999 was the year
the Internet was just beginning to come into its own.
Indeed, I had just recently opened my dance studio's new web
site, www.ssqq.com
What a lucky break this turned out to be. I think my
website was either the first dance studio on the Internet or
the line in front was very small.
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One reason the website was so prominent was my habit of
constantly posting material that would encourage my dance
students to visit and thereby increase the viewership.
Anytime I looked at Google, SSQQ was the first website
listed on Page One. Amazing.
Consequently I
was always on the lookout for content to post to draw visitors to the new web
site. Dance students are no different than any
other kind of student - they like challenges of all kinds! For
example, there was stiff competition to solve the weekly
Puzzle
Page I posted on the SSQQ website. With this in
mind, over time I posted the Einstein Puzzle, the Creativity Test,
Logic Puzzles, a Monster Quiz and a Geography Quiz. And now I
had found this interesting Christmas Picture Puzzle quiz.
On the spot I decided to
scan the Original Puzzle into my computer and put it on the Internet. I
wanted to share the Original Puzzle with my
dance students during the 1999 Christmas Holidays. Readers are
invited to see the large-scale
Original version
of this puzzle. This copy was seen by countless people back in the
Eighties and Nineties.
Right from the start I took a form of ownership. Much
of the artwork had faded, so I used my Paint Shop program to
touch them up. After upgrading a dozen puzzles, I
began to toy with the idea of making up my own puzzles.
Due to a subscription to a commercial art service named
Dynamic Graphics, I owned 15 years of wonderful Christmas
artwork. Why not put all this wonderful artwork to
good use? So I added 16 new riddles to the original 24
to make a total 40 puzzles. Then I published these 40
rebuses on my web site. Voila! The SSQQ
Christmas Carol Puzzle was born!
My idea paid off. My friends at the dance studio got a huge
kick out of solving the puzzle. As the compliments rained
in, I could not have been more proud of myself. I had used
my talent to make a lot of people happy at Christmas time. A
wonderful feeling of satisfaction came over me. I had done a
good thing.
It did not take
long for
the SSQQ Christmas Puzzle
to go worldwide. Shortly after I published the Original Puzzle at
www.ssqq.com, search engines like Google
began to direct total strangers to my version of the puzzle.
At this point, the puzzle went 'viral'.
Throughout the decade following the Millennium, at
Christmas time
people from all
across the planet began writing to ask for the answers. One
request was from a Catholic nun stationed at the Vatican! I
could not have been more amazed by this development.
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A GIANT
HEADACHE
I
took the puzzle off the website at the end of the 1999
Holiday Season. It was gone, but not forgotten.
The following year I got emails asking where the puzzle had
disappeared to.
Deeply touched by the outpouring of love for this puzzle, I
republished it in Year 2000. Sure enough, the magic
was still there. Flooded with requests for the
answers, I got in the habit of bringing the puzzle back each
year at Thanksgiving. Smart move.
This puzzle made a lot of
people happy. Teachers loved the
puzzle because it gave their
students a neat thing to do. Church
people loved it
because Christmas Carols are
spiritual. Family Get-Togethers loved
it because they
could tease each other to
see who could guess
the clues
first. Even Office Parties
loved it.
It gave employees
an excuse to have fun when they
should have been
working. Many people did
the puzzle alone for the sheer fun of it.
The puzzle is clever and people enjoy a good challenge.
When people wrote
me in search of
answers, they would often add anecdotes of their own. This is
how I learned
school teachers from every state in
America were using my Short Puzzle at Christmas time.
Each teacher said the same thing - the SSQQ Christmas Carol Puzzle was an
elementary school teacher's dream.
They were grateful to find a wholesome activity to keep their kids happy and entertained for an entire
morning! Pleased by their compliments, I expanded the
puzzle to 50 clues.
Click here to see
the 50-clue "Short Puzzle".
So now the puzzle was half-mine. 24 Original, 26 of my
making.
However, I made a big
mistake. I said that if someone wanted the answers,
first they had to solve half the puzzle. In other
words, to get 50 answers, they had to give me 25 correct
answers. Imagine my surprise when I realized many did
not pay a bit of attention to my request. 45% of the
requests for answers did not bother to solve a single clue
on their own. "Just send me the answers, please,
I'm busy."
I
was outraged. Here I was receiving 500 requests for
the answers every Christmas Season, 10-20 per day, and
nearly half the people refused to lift a finger. What
is wrong with them? I decided many of the people
who visited my web site did not want the puzzle for
themselves, but rather as a way to entertain students,
family, church members, fellow employees, etc. It
bothered me that they did not wish to invest a minute of
their precious time to meet my request.
My outrage increased when I found my puzzle popping up on
other websites. No, not the Original Puzzle with 24
frames, but the one I had updated to 50 frames. It was
plagiarism, plain and simple. After all the work I had
put in, all they did was copy and paste, then take credit
for it. Incredible.
Fortunately, one day in 2009 I had an awakening of sorts.
While it was true that my goofy
puzzle had become popular across the world, it was not really 'My
Puzzle'. I was the caretaker, not the creator.
What right did I have to treat this puzzle as my own?
I decided to donate the puzzle to the people in life who are
too busy to work the puzzle. So I made three major
changes.
1. Rather than wait till November each year, I posted
the 50-clue
puzzle year-round. It was there whenever needed.
2. I provided an
Answer Page
year-round.
3. For those unfamiliar with names of Christmas
Carols, I added a
Clue List
to assist their ability to guess.
There it was, 50 puzzles and 50 answers living year-round on
my web site for anyone to see on a year-round basis.
So guess what happened? No one emailed me anymore.
Why bother? They no longer required my help. At
first I was sad, but I got over it. I knew I had done
the right thing. Whoever had created this puzzle in
the beginning had expected nothing in return. So why
be selfish?
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From:
Gigi Rutkowski
Sent: Sunday, February 25, 2024 8:53 AM
To: rick@ssqq.com
Subject: Christmas Carol guessing game
Hello Sir, I am not sure if
you or this email are still interested (or active), but I
wandered across your SSQQ site
this morning and viewed a page titled
Original Christmas Puzzle . I can most
definitely solve the mystery of the origin of the Christmas
Carol game cartoon. I drew this
back around 1995.
My name is Gigi Rutkowski, from Brookfield, Wisconsin.
And I assure you that I drew the original form of this
game. I worked at Elmbrook Memorial Hospital (EMH) in
Brookfield, WI in the marketing department for most of my
career (I am now 65 and retired). Back in the 1990s, the
marketing department put out a weekly publication for EMH
employees called "News and Notes". It was a two sided, card
stock newsletter which was placed in every department box as
well as on holders in the hospital's cafeteria. Some time
in the mid 1990's (I worked there 1990 - 2016), I would say
1995 - 1997ish, I created the cartoon for one side of the
News and Notes for Christmas week. No, I didn't sign it
(probably should have in retrospect. But
it truly wasn't a big deal for me). I did little cartoon
drawings here and there for friends, families, co-workers,
but never took it too seriously. I drew this, made copies,
distributed them and that was that for me. I do recall a
few people asking/telling me they were taking the copies
home to use at their own Christmas gatherings. I never
dreamt it would "go viral". In a hospital, that's something
you never want to hear! LOL
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Back about 10 years or so ago, during the holidays I saw a
copy of my drawing posted on someone's Facebook page. I
laughed that it had resurfaced, but again never gave it any
thought. Fast forward now to 2024. I just drew a small
cartoon for friends and it triggered my memory. I googled
"Christmas Carol games" and was SHOCKED to see my cartoon
pop up in so many places. I stumbled onto your site and was
also surprised to see the mystery in who was the original
author. And a little surprised to see others take credit,
but I think they may have been referring to future
iterations of mine. I don't know and I really don't care.
I just want to assure you that it was indeed me. I was just
having fun. I never thought it would spread.
I imagine you may be
skeptical. I understand that. I
don't have the original, but I do have several other
different cartoons that I have drawn over the years. I can
send you copies of those if you think it may put this to
rest. I could also easily recreate the old one! Just let me
know. In the meantime, I'll attach a couple that I did take
photos of!
Thank you for listening. It's the truth! I swear! :-)
Gigi Rutkowski
PS - I have enclosed two samples of my
work from 2013 for you to review
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On Mon, Feb 26, 2024 at 4:10 AM Rick
Archer <rick@ssqq.com>
wrote:
Gigi, thank you for your nice letter. Unfortunately, I have
three issues.
1.
I have people who say they saw the so-called Original Puzzle
as far back as 1978. You say you drew these puzzles in
1996. I myself saw a copy in 1996, so I have trouble
believing your work could have spread so fast (but I
acknowledge it might be possible thanks to fax machines).
2.
The artwork you have sent me is more sophisticated than the
Original Puzzle. Of course you could have improved your
skills over time, but I have to say that what you sent me
does not resemble the work I am used to seeing. Here again
I could be wrong. I acknowledge I am hardly an
"art
expert".
3.
You are unable to provide a copy of your early work as
documentation. Isn't there something from your days back at
the hospital that you could dig up??
My instinct says that you are sincere. And I am open to
having a dialogue. But as it stands, I have no idea what
your first effort looked like. Without seeing something to
compare, I don't know what to say. Is it possible you
created something similar that was independent of a previous
author??
Rick Archer
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From:
Gigi Rutkowski [mailto:gigeego@gmail
com]
Sent: Monday, February 26, 2024 8:40 AM
To: Rick Archer
Subject: Re: Christmas Carol guessing game
Hi Rick,
First of all, thank you so much for responding to me!
I can only imagine how
surprising (and probably a little bit irritating) it must be
to randomly receive an email from a complete stranger, and
potential wacko, after all these years. Despite
your concerns, I truly appreciate you taking the time to
reply to me. And...
I assure
you I am not a wacko - ha! I
appreciate your skepticism and hesitance to just point blank
believe me. Truth be told, I
can see why you may not believe me, but from my end, I am
telling you the honest truth. And
it's okay. I am not seeking
anything at all - not recognition, or praise or critique, I
just wanted to solve the mystery. I
know I drew the original, I hope people enjoyed it (and
maybe continue to?) and my kids got a kick out of seeing the
google response. Really,
there is no gain in trying to defend myself. But, to clear
my mind....
To be honest, I don't know what year I drew it.
I started working at the
hospital in 1990 and then the marketing department in 1992.
One of my assignments was to do the weekly News and Notes,
which I previously explained to you. At some point during
that stretch I sat at my desk and filled out one side with
my cartoon. (Maybe I didn't have enough news copy to fill
both sides! LOL I don't know). So it was sometime in the
90's.
Was it as sophisticated as you think my other drawings were?
I don't know. It was just
something I quickly sketched. Probably
took me 2-3 hours. The other
samples I sent you were more involved. The
Christmas card was something I drew in college (probably
1980 or 81), the other sample probably in the 2000 teens.
Thank you for thinking they
were more sophisticated! That
made me smile. I never took
anything I drew too seriously, but if I am being honest,
sometimes I do look back at some of them now and think "hey,
that's pretty good"! I was
never into acclaim and never will be. As
for digging something up at the hospital, it is possible the
original might be in the archive files, but I no longer work
there and it has since been taken over by a competing health
care system. I'm sure I
could round up a few of my old co-workers from back in the
day to confirm my drawing, but to what end? It's okay.
Truly it is. I know.
Most importantly, thank you for taking the time to
listen....and to sense my sincerity. It's
genuine. I wish I could provide you more proof, but it is
what it is!
Thank you again for your kindness,
Gigi
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On Mon, Feb 26, 2024, 9:57 AM Rick
Archer <rick@ssqq.com>
wrote:
No one thinks you are wacko, Gigi. You express yourself
very well.
Again, my problem is I that don't see any connection btw
what is considered the "original artwork" and the examples
you sent me. So work with me a little bit. Would you pick
out an example from the two pictures that are (in your
opinion) "the most similar"?
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From: Gigi Rutkowski [mailto:gigeego@gmail
com]
Sent: Monday, February 26, 2024 10:32 AM
To: Rick Archer
Subject: Re: Christmas Carol guessing game
Hi Rick,
Ahh yes, I definitely see where you are coming from! The
Christmas game doesn't show many faces or obvious
similarities to the samples i sent that would show my
"style". Let me look through a file I have of some old
Christmas cards I did back in the day and see if any
similarities are revealed. It will be later tonight or
tomorrow, as I am on babysitting duty today.
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Rick Archer's Note:
So, Readers, what do you think? Compare the artwork in
the "Original Puzzle" to Gigi's work in 2013 and decide for
yourself.
I saw similarities, but not enough to satisfy my doubt.
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From:
Gigi Rutkowski [mailto:gigeego@gmail
com]
Sent: Monday, February 26, 2024 5:34 PM
To: Rick Archer
Subject: Re: Christmas Carol guessing game
Hello again Rick!
Interesting and exciting discovery! I went into my old files
to see if I had any Christmas drawings that might connect me
to my original artwork. Guess what! I actually had a copy of
the Christmas game on an old News and Notes from when I
worked at Elmbrook Memorial amongst some old Christmas cards
I had drawn!
As I mentioned earlier, News and Notes was an employee
newsletter that we put out weekly. I was in charge of this.
For the December 28, 1992 edition (1992!!!), I put the
"news" on one side and drew the cartoon on the back side. It
doesn't have my name on it, but I assure you 100% that I
worked there 1990 - 2016 (it was Wheaton Franciscan
Healthcare and was taken over by Ascension Healthcare in
2016 if you want to google to verify that I was the
Marketing Director there during the Wheaton years).
I'm attaching three photos for you. Front side, back side
and a flip version to show that it truly was on the back of
an EMH newsletter.
Have I convinced you? ?? I really hope you believe me. I
don't have any reason to lie nor know how else I can prove
that I drew the picture! It's really a weird thing to KNOW
you did something 30 some years ago and then try to prove
it. Hopefully this will close the mystery. If not, let's
indeed keep the conversation going, because it truly truly
truly was me!!
Two interesting memories did come back to me which made me
smile. #19 stumped a lot of people, probably because I had
NO clue back then what a chestnut looked like...so I kinda
made them resemble peanuts. And for #18 I thought there was
some tool named an awl and I asked a guy from the
maintenance department what it looked like. (This was before
the intranet and the world was at our fingertips). All the
truth, I swear...
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On Tue, Feb 27, 2024 at 5:37 AM Rick
Archer <rick@ssqq.com>
wrote:
Good news, Gigi. I believe you now. Those are very
compelling photographs.
Do you mind if I add our email correspondence and the
pictures to my web site? This would be the easiest way to
give you the credit you richly deserve. I have admired your
work for many years. It took real imagination to create
that puzzle.
I never had trouble w the chestnuts clue. I don't know what
they look like either. But "All I want for Christmas is my
two front teeth" (#18) took many years for me to decipher.
Thank you for all the pleasure you have generated for many
Christmas families over the years.
One more thing: please send a photograph so I can add it to
the story.
Rick Archer
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From:
Gigi Rutkowski [mailto:gigeego@gmail
com]
Sent: Tuesday, February 27, 2024 8:04 AM
To: Rick Archer
Subject: Re: Christmas Carol guessing game
Yay! Thank you! And thank you for
the kind words.
Yes, please go ahead and include our
correspondences on your webpage. I don't mind at all.
On another note, as I mentioned, I am semi-retired - soon to
be 100% retired. I've been trying to figure out how to
keep myself busy (and sane) with my added free time. I
think I might create some more little cartoons and puzzle
games. I'm thinking maybe I'll post them on Facebook
for my friends to (hopefully) enjoy. This time I will
be sure to put my name on them! LOL. And probably hide
my initials somewhere so I can easily solve any whodunnits
in the future. All this said, thank you for
encouraging me with your kind words, patience, skepticism
and perseverance. I've enjoyed helping to solve this
"mystery" and "puzzle"!
Gigi
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On Tue, Feb 27, 2024 at 8:43 AM Rick
Archer <rick@ssqq.com>
wrote:
Your work brought a lot of Christmas happiness and fun to
countless people over the years, probably in the millions.
For example, I hosted a Christmas party for my Square Dance
class. For entertainment, I divided everyone into four
teams to solve my 50-clue version
of your original puzzle (
have you seen what my 50-clue puzzle
looks like? )
You have no idea how seriously my party
goers took it!! Laughter, competition, and of course
I had a blast teasing everyone. Some of
their answers were hilarious.
Now that you and I have connected, there
is something I wish to make clear. I have been
a caretaker of your work
for many years. Not once did I
give myself credit; I knew I was a copycat charged with the
duty of carrying the torch for someone else. What I can say
is that I am in a position to know what you accomplished
better than anyone else. This is on you, Gigi. You were
the inspiration. You should be proud of yourself for a good
deed that carries an amazing ripple effect even today.
Rick Archer
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From:
Gigi Rutkowski [mailto:gigeego@gmail
com]
Sent: Tuesday, February 27, 2024 10:21 AM
To: Rick Archer
Subject: Re: Christmas Carol guessing game
Rick, thank you. This means so much to
me! I seriously had no idea, but my heart is overflowing.
Who knew??
All my best to you, and thank you for responding to my first
email, believing me, and letting me get to "know" you. I
don't know why, but I think I needed this.
I can't believe how happy you made me!!!
Thank you!
Gigi
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The
Christmas Carol Cartoon
Subtitle: How Rick and Gigi Became Friends
Gigi Rutkowski
Saturday, April 13, 2024
My doodling began when I was about 9 years old.
Trapped inside a motel room
due to torrential rain on a family trip, I became obsessed
with my brother's Mad Magazine. Not
because of the content, but because of the drawings and
cartoons. My dad bought me a
sketch pad and I spent the rest of that trip studying the
magazine to learn how to draw eyes, noses, ears and bodies.
Several years later, a junior high teacher noticed my doodle
drawings and asked me to draw the cover and chapter sheets
for that year's yearbook. Another
teacher gifted me a book about Rube Goldstein, the
inventor/artist that would draw and create all kinds of
contraptions to accomplish a task - like a series of tubes
and ramps and gizmos to get a ball to drop in a cup.
It intrigued me that through
the use of drawings (or contraptions) you could challenge
someone to accomplish something rather than just telling
them to do it.
Fast forward to the 1990's. I
was early in my career in healthcare marketing.
One of my assignments was to
do the weekly newsletter for the hospital's staff and
visitors, aka "Notes and News".
It was a simple, two-sided
sheet that was placed in department cubbies and on tables in
the cafeteria. Christmas
1992 I decided to fill one side with a Christmas game.
I made a list of all the
Christmas carols I could think of and then decided which
ones I could draw cartoons of to make people guess the
titles. I didn't put my name
on it because it was our policy to not put "editor" or other
contributor names on the newsletters. Even
still, lots of people knew I drew it and I received many
compliments. A few asked if
they could use it for scout meetings or family gatherings.
Sure! Why
not! I was flattered.
Later, probably in the early 2000's, I have a fuzzy memory
of a friend stopping me and saying "My husband's company
distributed a Christmas game and I swear it is the one that
you did years ago. They got it off the web".
My response was probably,
"oh, that's weird". Other
than that, my cartoon never
entered my thoughts... Never,
that is until one
morning in February 2024.
For reasons completely unknown to me, I awakened thinking
about that drawing (oddity #1).
It was filling my mind.
Still lying in bed, I
grabbed my phone and googled "Christmas carol cartoon".
That led me to a "Christmas
carol game worksheet" page. I
was absolutely stunned seeing my cartoon show up on probably
50 plus websites. It was
definitely my drawing, along with some iterations of it -
colored in, added to, a few of the harder clues simplified -
but wow!! I randomly (oddity
#2) picked one website to get a better look at my
old drawing. I landed on a
webpage which was a series of emails from people either
asking who the original author was or claiming it was their
work. Then I found
a similar page on the same website. The
emails were being answered by a guy named Rick.
Rick was refuting most of
those claiming to be the originator (which I oddly
appreciated). Why did I
stumble upon this page? Who
would make such an effort to figure out when, where and by
whom this was drawn? (oddity #3).
The last email exchange on
this page was in 2013. What were the odds this guy, Rick,
still had that email, and for that matter still cared who
the artist was? I decided to
send him an email. I didn't
care about credit, acclaim, or any of that.
I just wanted to help him
solve the mystery. I
explained I had drawn it for a hospital newsletter and
attached two other random cartoons I had drawn for
comparison. To my amazement,
he wrote back almost immediately...
and said he didn't
believe me! Arghh.
I had an "oh well and
whatever" moment. I knew the
truth and figured that was that. BUT
Rick wrote something that struck me. He
said that he felt there was a level of sincerity in my
email. He asked if I could
provide the original. No, I
couldn't. I no longer work
at that hospital, and it is under new management.
Rick was diligent (oddity
#4), even though I was a complete and uninvited
stranger to him. Rick said
"work with me on this, show me some comparisons in other
drawings to help convince me". I
knew I had some cartoon Christmas cards I had drawn up in
the cold, dark attic, but it was February in Wisconsin and I
really didn't want to go up there. Sitting
frustrated at my desk, I opened a "junk drawer" where I have
saved old pictures the kids drew, notes, nice cards, etc.
I pulled out a stack of
papers and gasped so loudly my husband
Cory came to see what was wrong. There
it was, the original!!
(oddity #5). I
snapped some photos and sent them off to Rick.
He believed me!
In following emails I shared with him the series of
baffling, odd coincidences that led me to this moment.
He wrote back and explained
that he was writing a book about how his life has been
filled with odd coincidences and how the book explored
coincidence and/or karma and/or divine intervention (oddity
#6). He said I should read the first four chapters
of his draft. My mind was blown. What
an amazing story! What an
amazing book!
Since then, our friendship has grown, grounded with mutual
respect and admiration, and based on the belief that somehow
these weird "coincidences" have brought us together for
reasons unbeknownst to us. I
have become a sounding board for
his book. He is a sounding
board for my cartoons. Neither
of us are professionals at these things by any means, but we
share a goal. We want to use
our talents (Rick's for telling an amazing story and me for
doodling) to bring joy to others; to make people think out
of the box; and to foster conversations - either about an
answer to a cartoon puzzle or to explore unexplainable
events in their own lives.
You should read Rick's book, The
Hidden Hand of God, when it becomes available.
You will not regret it.
In the meantime, hopefully
you will enjoy my cartoon puzzles. Share them with family at
the kitchen table, use them at parties or in classrooms.
(And yes, from now on I am putting
my name on them!)
Gigi
PS - Would you consider including one of my newer Christmas
puzzles that I recently sent? I would hope that would prove
to any possible doubters that the original drawing is "my
style" as well as my odd way of thinking in putting the
clues out there .
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12-22-2024
Rick Archer's Note:
As Gigl has made clear, over the past year we have become
close friends. Gigi was so excited to discover how
popular her game had become in her absence, she has decided
to resume drawing new puzzles. I intend to share her various
creations
on my website in 2025. For the time being,
perhaps you would enjoy seeing her recent
Halloween Puzzle in
addition to her 2024 Christmas Carol Quiz.
I smiled when Gigi wrote, "Rick
was refuting most of those claiming to be the originator
(which I oddly appreciated)."
She is right about that. Over the years, I felt I had
been given a responsibility to:
A)
Carry on the spirit of her
work.
B) Safeguard her Christmas Carol Puzzle from giving
credit to the wrong person. You might even call it a 'sacred
duty' although that statement might strike some people
the wrong way.
Why would I go to such lengths? Gigi will laugh at my
response. As I like to say in my books about Fate,
there is the "Realistic Reason" and then there is the
"Mystic Reason". The Realistic Reason is that over a
20-period, I must have responded to somewhere between 4,000 to
6,000 emails written by fans of her Christmas Puzzle.
Every single one of those emails said the same thing: "THANK
YOU SO MUCH! THIS PUZZLE IS WONDERFUL!"
Some people went beyond a simple thank you and shared their
experience. Here is an example.
-----Original Message-----
From: Tom De Vries
Sent: Sunday, December 4, 2011 10:29 AM
To: dance@ssqq.com
Subject: Christmas Puzzle
Dear Rick,
Thanks so
much for providing this excellent puzzle.
We attend
a Christmas gathering each year, and I'm in charge of
music (guitar and carols) and
puzzles..
We've
done your puzzle for several
years now, and it's always great to find
something so worthwhile on the Internet.
I can
tell you have put TONS of time
into this, so my heartfelt
thanks for adding Christmas
cheer the last two years!
We did
your short puzzle last year.
And this year we did your
long puzzle
for about an hour (a
group of about 10 of us). The
long puzzle was much tougher, so I challenged
everyone to try to make the 45 so we could get
your answer
sheet.
You have quite the imagination.
There were some fun ones. Love the "wrench
is lost", your clue for
Good King Wenceslas. Another
favorite was "holly JAWly",
a jaws picture for Holly Jolly
Christmas. Too clever.
All the
best, and thanks again.
Sincerely,
Tom (Sherwood Park, Alberta, Canada)
So what is my point? I could not help but be touched
by all these strangers who wanted me to know how much
they appreciated "my" puzzle. So, yes, I took great
pride in that. However, at the same time, deep down
inside I knew this was not "my" puzzle. For reasons I
did not quite understand, I felt like I had been entrusted with
the duty of keeping this
precious resource in the public eye. While it is true
I managed to make this Christmas Carol puzzle more famous
than ever before, I never felt the Puzzle belonged to me.
I compare it to finding a loveable, but quite bewildered
lost puppy dog. Every part of my being wanted to take
good care of it till the rightful owner appeared.
Unfortunately, I had lousy luck with
that. Like the fruitless search for life on other
planets, for 25 years I remained disappointed that not one
person offered me a decent hint as to its origin.
Year after year, I wondered if someone would come across my
web site and take the time to share more information.
Alas, I more or less given hope, so imagine my surprise when Gigi contacted me in 2024. I had to laugh. "Well,
it's about time!"
Okay, you have heard my Realistic Reason. So what might my
"Mystic Reason" be? I am a firm believer in
Fate. I believe from time to time certain people are sent to
help us to
fulfill a divine mission. If you are familiar with the
concept of Karma, there is a definite feeling of mutual
gratitude in play. I feel like I was sent to protect
Gigi's puzzle. Out of gratitude for taking good care
of her long lost creation, Gigi wanted to help me polish my
book about Fate... for which I am unbelievably grateful!
The timing was perfect. Gigi's insights have made my
latest book, The Gypsy Prophecy, so much more concise.
But what if Gigi had appeared ten years earlier? Her
appearance would never have energized my book because I had
not started writing it yet. Do you see my point?
When it comes to Fate, Timing is Everything. Gigi entered my life
at the exact moment when I needed her most.
And the funny thing is, practically from the moment we met,
she asked to help with my book. It was like, "Yo,
Rick, I know you've been waiting for me, so here I am!!"
From:
Gigi Rutkowski
Sent: Thursday, February 29, 2024 5:37 PM
To: Rick Archer
Subject: The Hidden Hand of
God
Hi Rick,
I am half way through Chapter 2. I love it!!! I hope
you know enough about me to know that I am a very honest
person, so when I say that I am REALLY enjoying your
story, I mean it! Give me a day or two to finish the
rest (busy stretch here) and then you'll have to explain
the "new challenge" you referenced. I'm
intrigued! Your story is
fascinating. I have so
many thoughts. I'm an
avid reader and your style is so easy and truly draws
the reader in. I'll
reflect more once I have had time to get through the
next chapter and a half.
.....................
After I finished writing The Hidden Hand of God, I
immediately got to work on The Gypsy Prophecy. Here
again Gigi's insights were invaluable. After working
with me for six months, one day Gigi felt moved to say she
felt guided to protect my work in much the same way I had
once felt compelled to protect her work.
From: Gigi
Rutkowski
Sent: Saturday, September 21, 2024 8:03 AM
To: Rick Archer
Subject: Gypsy Prophecy
I am always on the lookout for a signal as to the next
step. What if I have been placed into your life to
be the one to nag/encourage you to publish Hidden Hand?
You have to admit, the way our lives collided is very
strange. There must be a purpose! To me, I
think my role might be to encourage you to take the next
step.
.............................
I guarantee you will hear more about Gigi in the coming
year. She is a very special person.
Rick Archer
PS- The answers to Gigi's 2024 Christmas Song Puzzle
are right below. How did
you do on her new Christmas Puzzle? I got 15.
You should be able to beat that.
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