Thought I'd check here as I've not visited in a while. Instantly made to feel like I've missed an appointment for a coffin fitting. Just like old times, ironically.

Never change! (Plus it's likely I'll have expired of old ageif you do, anyway.)

Paraphrased, but 'The rules are here as guidelines only. If you don't like them, change them to make them work for you and your players. Above all, have fun.'
There's something - pardon the basic pun - magical about that.

And while the rulesets have changed and refined over the years, that glorious freedom has not.
That thin red book helped define me, allowed my creativity to bloom, and brought me incredible happiness. I tend to DM games rather than play as player now, and there's one overriding principle:

Just absolutely blew my burgeoning nerdbrain. I've been hooked ever since, even mentally designing campaigns when I wasn't actively playing. That escape, that freedom, that permission to express and enjoy something (mostly) in any way I wanted was incredibly liberating.

"You can do whatever you want!"
This definitely broke, expanded and rewired my brain. A game where the rules encouraged you to do whatever you wanted? It wasn't a series of choices? I could choose to not even undertake the quest I'd been offered, wander into the woods and even become the antagonist?

You're in for a real treat here - started reading them myself around 30 years ago, and have read them all too many times to count.
Except for his final book. Just the once; it genuinely hurts knowing that that is where it all ends.

I hope they bring you as much joy as they did (and still do!) me!