I want to give a shout out to our fans and listeners who are serving or have served in the United States military. As a military brat turned wife myself, I understand the ups and downs of the military lifestyle and how much you give of yourself and how little you receive in return. Whether you served for two years or thirty years, once military, always military in heart and soul.
It’s a way of life unlike any other and the closeness and community spirit given within is definitely worth being cherished.
I wanted to share with you a special moment in my life as a military spouse and how gaming has positively effected me during deployments. My husband was deployed to Iraq one year and we had just moved to a new area. We weren’t even there but a month when he left and I had a one, two and a three year old toddler to take care of. I had just lost my job and I didn’t have enough time to really get to know the area or the people. We couldn’t live on base because they were filled up, so we had to be on a waiting list and in the meantime, we live off base in a secluded country side area.
Talk about isolation.
My son started pre-school that year and I had no idea how to register a child for school or what school for that matter. I was in total chaos and I went into severe depression and anxiety, barely sleeping, eating, or socializing … except for ONE game!
Had it not been for (yes I will say it) World of Warcraft, I would probably not have held my sanity. Logging into vent and talking to my guild, other women and other veteran gamers, really gave me a sense of calm. They encouraged me, helped me through tough times, called me to check on me, and gave me advice when needed. During a very rough moment in my life, when my husband could not be there, when my family was too far, when I lacked the friends a new mother needed (its not often we get out of the house with three babies), my WOW friends were there.
So for those people who say games are bad for you, that they encourage violence and filthy minds, you are close-minded and ignorant. For some people, like military families, these games bring us closer to each other when we are apart and connected to the world beyond our neighbors.
I don’t know where my old friends are now. People move on, other games, new babies, marriage, and just life in general pull us away from those we once knew and loved. But for any military spouse or soldier out there that games, from the deepest, most sincere place at the bottom of my heart, I SALUTE YOU!
You know, I didn’t even think of the connection until last week, when my teenager traded Pokemon with a soldier in Afghanistan. But then I thought, wow, what a wonderful resource for connection with the folks back at home!!
I’m glad you had community when you needed it most. Gaming is just as much of a community as the one that is physically around you. I think it’s just going to take time for the rest of the Muggles to figure it out!