A Grand Influence

I have always had a close relationship with my Grandparents. My mums parents are console gamers and my dad’s parents are computer gamers. No one in my family (parents, siblings, cousins) except myself, games. 

My favorite memories as a child are sitting on my Grandad’s lap while he played Morrowind or Oblivion or Warcraft. As I got older I would spend more time on his computer during holidays then he did. One year I got down to Melbourne and he had just started playing Wow, he told me all about this game that was so good that if he kept playing he would have to quit his Job (he’s a Chemist). 

This was a running joke in my family, he was 75 and had tried to retire once 20 years earlier and it just wouldn’t stick. He loved his job too much. This time however he was serious. 

I started a toon on his account. A warlock, she was a pretty thing. I was 14 and i’d seen someone in my grandad’s guild riding a flaming horse and it reminded me of Ocarina of Time and I thought it was the coolest thing in the world. 

Two weeks later (and barely any family interaction since the begining of that warlock) I went back home to Brisbane. My grandfathers present to me was a new Laptop I could game on, and a WoW account/subscription. 

Next week I have two weeks off work. My first Holiday in 2 years. Every 2 years a WoW expansion is released, I take two weeks off work, fly down to Melbourne with my Alienware laptop (donated as always by my loving grandad) and spend two weeks playing WoW with my Grandfather. These are the memories which will keep me going when he is no longer here and I will never forget what WoW has given me.