My Mom loved video games (at home, not at arcades). Sometimes, when my brothers and I played Atari, he& #39;d shoo us out, "Go outside, it& #39;s nice out!", and when we returned, she& #39;d be playing Atari. On computers later, she liked all kinds, but she loved & #39;Doom& #39;, and later & #39;Half-Life.& #39;

My nieces and nephew have fond memories of sitting on her lap/next to her as she played a FPS that was too violent for them.https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="😀" title="Grinning face" aria-label="Emoji: Grinning face"> Asked her if she& #39;d heard of The Sims, thinking she might like it (she did like some mellow games). Her reply: "I& #39;d rather kill monsters an bad guys."

Not long before we lost her to cancer, I was sitting with her as she played Half-Life (years after she& #39;d already beaten it), and after she talked to a scientist in the game, she whipped out the crowbar and beat him to death. https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="😳" title="Flushed face" aria-label="Emoji: Flushed face">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🤣" title="Rolling on the floor laughing" aria-label="Emoji: Rolling on the floor laughing"> "Mom! Why& #39;d you do that?! He wasn& #39;t a bad guy!"

She shrugged, "He annoyed me. He didn& #39;t tell me anything useful." I laughed as she continued her trek through the game. My Mom was not a violent person, but she was tough. Tougher than my Dad (most women are tougher than men, even if not physically stronger).

She also had a huge heart, especially for kids and babies. I can& #39;t help but wonder if that scientist in the game was a bit of a proxy for some of the doctors she had to deal with during her two bouts with cancer, or birthing three boys.

I miss my Mom.

Also, Twitter needs an edit feature in the year 2020 fer chrissakes!

*"she& #39;d shoo us out" in the first tweet in this thread.

:sigh: