» Sat Dec 17, 2011 2:23 am
My sympathies go out to the man and any who have felt the pain of losing a loved one. I know the feeling all too well, having lost my fiance, my father, and a few friends (in the last 20 years, not at the same time). It is a feeling not a single person can truly understand until it happens, which is why it is so easy for some to simply shrug it off as an "it happens" moment or insult it by putting down the method(s) used to grieve over their loved one and keep their memory alive. I can understand how a video game would remind him of his wife and keep her memory alive.
Everyone has different methods of grieving; one poster mentioned how his grandmother would play checkers as both sides. She kept him in her heart and mind by mimicking how he played. My sister wears her best friend's necklace (that she wore all the time) and only takes it off when she has to (the two knew each other since preschool). I'm an athiest, yet I wear my fiance's St. Christopher medal and her necklace with a pendant Jesus on the cross. I had a man come to my office, asking me to be his grief counselor and he found the best way for him to keep his brother's (who he said was "literally my only friend the last 30 years)close to his heart was by playing his brother's favorite video games; games he thought svcked but, eventually, found a love for. One was TES (Morrowind) and a couple old RPGs. To this day, he dedicates one full playthrough entirely in his brother's memory; to the point of naming the character after his brother and choosing the choices his brother would have.
Just because you deem these methods weird does not make them so weird; they are only finding the best means of not only coping and grieving over their lost loved one, but also a way to be able to keep them close to their heart. Just because you do not understand it or think negatively of it doesn't make it weird, it only makes it human. Until you have gone through the pain yourself, the most you can do is imagine it.
To any and all who have dealt and/or are dealing with the pain, you are very strong. Many don't realize how strong they are, but the grieving deserve the utmost respect.
EDIT: Grammar and typos
You can still powerlevel almost anything. You can still be a god in hours if you play your cards right. You can still become the guild leader and hold no power, and still be talked down to by NPC's while wearing the best, most dangerous weapons in the land.
