A few minutes in, one of my guild-mates asked if I'd like to run through a dungeon with her, and I happily agreed, and we started looking for others to fill out our party. It was about this time that Alex woke up, saw that I was doing something without him, and insisted on coming along. Not much use in arguing, and fortunately, we have amazing, wonderful, compassionate and understanding friends in-game who don't care if the hunter takes a few extra seconds to mark a target or send his razorback into the fight (yeah, his pet is a wild boar--what else would it be?). In other words, they're willing to carry their friends when needed, with no complaints. I asked if it was OK if he joined, and of course was told yes.
It was a largely uneventful run--I don't think anyone died, and it was lots of fun for everyone. We even stopped and took a victory screenshot at the end after downing the big boss. Because we are soooo dorky.
That's Alex's hunter on the left, then our bud Drifty, that's Alex's ferocious pig, Jasmine, right behind my squishy little mage-self with my glowing stick of death, and over on the right is a warrior you do not wanna run into if you harbor any bad intentions, because she will shout you to death.
It was after all this, when I'd said my goodbyes and offered my thanks to my fine friends, that I looked over and saw this:
And I smiled.
Somewhere, deep inside, beyond the overwhelming sadness and confusion, there was a whimsical, joyful spark in my husband. Something that felt, just for a moment and in a virtual world, like dancing. And while his spike-helmeted avatar busted his MJ moves, my heart danced a little, as well.
Sometimes it's the very small things, the tiny moments.
A very big part of the reason that I think I can never, ever really quit the game, no matter how many Real Life things are demanding my attention: the people. You guys. I feel like I'm a part of a community in ways that I haven't found in the Blogger World -and I HAVE felt a part of a community in here. Being able to help each other and work together on goals that are sometimes tedious and sometimes hilarious just makes it more.. real... even though it's not. It's so difficult to explain to someone who hasn't really given it a serious try how awesome it can be. Sure, there are jerks (like our first healer for last night's run) but there are jerks in real life and in blogging life. The beauty of WoW is the /ignore feature. Sometimes it'd be nice to have /ignore in RL :)
ReplyDeleteI'm so glad that we can shed a little joy in your difficult Real Life, even if it's tiny. I'd tank you guys through an instance ANYTIME. AND carry your slack-ass DPSing, too. :D
HEYYYYYY!
ReplyDelete:-))) Big smiles for you! - Rita
ReplyDeleteLove the post. I'm not currently playing WoW, but have been and will again when finances get settled down.
ReplyDeleteThat's awesome. You know, I read every entry - and often don't know what to say, but I miss you - I miss hearing about you and Bella and Alex. Just know you are in my thoughts often and you are loved. xoxo
ReplyDeleteI used to play WOW (my name was Malawk in Thunderhorn realm) before I quit to spend more time with my wife and kids. Anyway, I'm confined to a powerchair and a RL friend (Linaeus, Pattymelt in WOW) asked me to check out your blog.
ReplyDeleteThe best thing I've done for my marriage is to hire caregivers. I wanted to have a wife first and sure sometimes she has to do caregiving tasks but I don't want her to feel the burden of being my primary caregiver. This is vital to sustaining a long-term successful, fulfilling relationship. Also, the most important thing in my life is my faith in the Lord who gives me strength and hope.
I would also very, very highly recommend you check out www.wheelchairjunkie.com It has some insightful and inspiring articles and a very supportive message board. My name there is Hawgwheelz.
God Bless