The Rev. Bart Hildreth credited one of Alec’s uncles with saying he could make friends with a doorknob. It was one of many comments that elicited laughter from everyone gathered to commemorate Alec’s life. A bunch of people liked my words,
but there is no doubt that Charlie gave the best speech.
(If you’ve ever listened to him playing videogames you might be amazed at his range.)
I told one of my best friends that it was as hard to come back to Amherst as it was to go to Kansas City. “It crashes in, I know,” she said. The long slog of adjustment begins. Our lives will always be different, now. It isn’t just the fact of Alec’s death that causes the change, it is the meaningfulness his death creates, a meaningfulness possible only because of his life. “Were you close?” another friend asked on learning the news. A reasonable question, since most of my friends know my family hasn’t been all that tight. I couldn’t muster an answer at the time; it seemed a “yes” required an explanation and I didn’t have the energy or the words. Now, I respond with confidence:
Yes, and we’re closer now than we were before. Besides, a couple of the girls who spoke at the funeral said Alec told them “he grew out his hair because it annoyed people.” Obviously we are kin.
“Whoa! It demonstrates how to do it! That’s new.”
“That’s cool.”
“The graphics aren’t as good, do you see that?”
“Can anybody hear me?”
“That’s weird.” What does that mean? It had Y button with like an arrow down. Just do the move. huh. Oh that was cool!
“Oh wow, what was it?!”
“That’s new.” “That’s cool!”
Both of them are a trip. Separately and together. Austin took us on the scenic route to Waid’s for breakfast that just happened to take us by GameStop where the new release of DOA 4 awaited. I really enjoyed watching him play last night, shifting between female and male characters and winning every single game. He explained a lot to me. Very interesting discourse involved with gaming. I asked Alec last night about whether he felt himself thinking in the ways of the games during his real life. “It doesn’t make me violent, if that’s what you mean.” No, that wasn’t where I was going. (Obviously he’s aware of that interpretation.) He’s articulate and concise: you don’t solve problems in real-life like you do in the game. I know. What I meant was, there are parts of the games – especially the commercial elements – that are quite optimistic. They point toward possibilities. Austin acknowledged this: some things are just cool, but part of what makes them cool is that they demonstrate potential.
Jesus Evil Kachina tells me one ought to communicate only that which rises to the top.
I arrived in KC to surprise my nephews and sister-in-law. Dad had a few hours warning. The youngest’s eyes just about popped out of his head when I told him who I was. Yes, it’s been that long. I’m getting lessons in PSP, Dance Dance Revolution Extreme 2 (Alec scored a perfect 100 tonight on Captain Jack), Halo (Gamertag SS4 Shinobi), and Dead or Alive Ultimate (Austin is in the top 100 worldwide).
I’m planning on downloading Full Metal Alchemy once I’ve finished this trip; got a bit of an explanation from the Jamester as I peered over his shoulder yesterday and was intrigued.
