Saturday, July 23, 2011

The Magic of Mass Effect

Ever since Leif died, we had his Mass Effect game here but no one played it. Our great niece Kimberly tried it once, and our grandson Marcus as well, but both were too young to play it and lost interest. Mass Effect is the game that Leif bought about three months before he died. He was absolutely captivated by it and he played it for days, once even 24 hours straight until he solved the game more than once. He created both a male and a female character to play with.

Our granddaughters are now interested in strategy games and Aly in particular likes first person shooter games, so I wondered if she would like Mass Effect. To our amazement, as soon as she tried it, she was as captivated as Leif and she has played it every waking minute that she's been allowed to use the television, up to 8 hours a day. She even set her alarm clock to get up early just to have more time before others were up.

The game has proven fascinating to Madeleine and Peter Anthony as well, and even Peter W. has enjoyed watching them play. How I wish Leif were here to enjoy the game with them. He would be giving Aly tips, chuckling at her intensity and helping her along. I can see the two of them together playing. How he would have enjoyed that, a kindred soul to share one of his passions.

It seems a little bit amazing to me that over three years after Leif's death, the game he loved has brought such pleasure to the family.
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The photo is a screen shot of Aly's character in the game.

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Thinking of Leif

Last week we went to the Sarasota Classic Car Museum. We couldn't help but say repeatedly how much Leif would have enjoyed seeing those cars, some truly exotic ones he would have appreciated, like a Maserati, and this DiTomaso Pantera. I'd never seen on of these before, but I remember Leif talking about them. Beautiful sports cars will always be associated with Leif in our minds. I'll never see one without wishing I could share the experience with him.

Every once in awhile I see a silver RX-8 on a road near here and I do a double-take. My subconscious brain can't help but wonder if it's Leif, even though my conscious mind knows it can't be.

The associations in our minds linger on. They don't sever or go away when someone dies.

Today Leif has been dead for three years and three months. I still miss him every day.