I am a gamer
Growing up, I was encouraged to play games, type, and work on the computer.
A natural side effect was that I loved to play video/computer games.
Games, especially computer games, were an equalizer. It didn’t matter that I was playing one handed or with adaptations. It only mattered how good I was. I could just be any other kid… not any one of the things I was called by the bullies.
When my husband and I were going to school, he was introduced to Warcraft by his uncle and cousins. That spiraled to Starcraft, Diablo, and similar style games.
Because it was something he enjoyed, I learned to play so we could play together.
One Christmas, we were given a gift card to a store we never went to, and upon going through the store, found nothing we wanted so… we got our first World of Warcraft game.
We quickly discovered that we both loved the game, so we got 2 accounts and quickly got a second computer, so we could play together.
For years, date night and downtime were spent in the fantasy world of Azeroth adventuring together. Eventually, we would find a community of people to play with in person and hold parties where we would play in the game but also in the same room.
We didn’t sustain the subscriptions as we eventually got bored of doing the same things over and over.
We still loved gaming, though. We needed a new outlet. Justin had a friend at work who was interested in starting a new DnD group. He introduced me to this person and her husband… who just resonated with me. I could immediately see a long and true friendship with them.
A few weeks later, we met the other members of this new DnD group. We started adventuring shortly there after. That was in June 2019. During the pandemic, we met virtually. It was the connection that helped me survive that full stop on my life during that time post graduation from college. We still gather 1-2 times a month.
In 2020, I wrote: “I’m grateful for our DnD group. Our adventures in game and bond IRL have become an important part of my life. Looking forward to our next meeting.” It’s more true today. We look forward to and schedule around our game nights.
Indomitable Bellatrix 