Rab Florence's most recent column

First, read this.

www.rockpapershotgun.com/2015/07/21/card...acksand/#more-302871

I'm not the biggest fan of Rab's columns week in and week out, but this is brilliant writing. I think maybe others can relate on F:AT, it's one of the few places where I feel like people have a similar emotional relationship with the hobby. It's one of the things that keeps me here.

My mother is older now, in her 70s. I hope she lives for 30 more years but when she dies I will have very similar memories. My mom kept me going through my very difficult teens by buying me all sorts of GW games, World of Darkness RPG books, and trashy stuff like Rifts supplements. I have a ton of memories just like Rab's, but I could never express it this beautifully.

Thanks for the link. I enjoyed reading Rab's column. I could certainly relate to his experience.

It was my dad that got me into boardgames, but my mom also enjoyed playing them. She was always a warm, friendly person that got along well with everybody.

Several years ago, she flew into town without giving any advance notice, about 90 minutes before I had people coming over to play boardgames. So I picked her up from the airport and had her join us in a big game of Arkham Horror. Due to her early stage Alzheimer's, she couldn't remember any rules from turn to turn, but she enjoyed the game. It's a good thing that she had my number on her cell phone and still remembered how to use it back then.

Today, my mom is at an advanced state of Alzheimer's. She knows her own name. She doesn't know where she lives, and only recognizes a few people. She lives with my sister, who is a nurse (RN). While my sister is at work, a babysitter watches my mom so she doesn't wander off or get hurt. They live 1,000 miles away from me, so I can't do much to help. My mom's savings and social security are covering the sitter costs, and my sister is living rent free at my mom's house. I want my sister to keep the house when our mother passes away, in compensation for all of her hard work.

My mom isn't really my mom anymore. She is a nervous and nearly mindless shadow of my mother. It's like being haunted by a ghost. She won't talk to me on the phone anymore, because she doesn't know who I am, even when my sister tells her. She loved reading, yet though she is still capable of reading a sentence out loud, she has no idea what she is reading. By the end of a sentence, she has already forgotten all of the previous words in that sentence. She also loved talking to people, but now she has withdrawn from all but the few faces that she still recognizes. I wouldn't wish this fate on my worst enemy. If not for one thing, I would hope that my mom would finally pass on sometime soon. But there is that one thing: she is still a very happy person. Sometimes she gets frustrated and unhappy while struggling with confusion, but all the rest of the time, she is happy, because she has always been such a positive person.

That is so hard. The generally happy thing is a big deal, my friend's father turned into an incredibly angry and difficult person to deal with on a minute to minute basis. My understanding is that it is a bit of a crapshoot if that happens---as you said, it's like another person takes their place.

I like his perspective as an across the pond gamer. As his early experiences were just ever so slightly shifted in reality to mine. Where I have TSR, he has Games Workshop. Where I have Steve Jackson, he has Steve Jackson. reading his nostalgic articles is like reading into a parallel universe where things aren't quite the same, yet the same.

My mother died from Alzheimer's. It's a miserable, shitty, degrading way to go, for everyone involved. She became angry, scared, violent. My uncle (her brother) went the same way. My father's sister also did, though she at least had the pleasantly vacant type of Alzheimer's. If I ever start to show definite early signs of Alzheimer's, I guarantee I won't show the later ones.

Legomancer wrote: My mother died from Alzheimer's. It's a miserable, shitty, degrading way to go, for everyone involved. She became angry, scared, violent. My uncle (her brother) went the same way. My father's sister also did, though she at least had the pleasantly vacant type of Alzheimer's. If I ever start to show definite early signs of Alzheimer's, I guarantee I won't show the later ones.

Same here. Though I am a friendly guy and get along well with most people, I suspect that I would become one of those angry, violent Alzheimer's cases.

Thanks so much for posting the link Mr. Sax. I have a nephew whose birthday is coming up and was moved to order him some of those books. He turns 11 and is very ADD super smart kid. Seems possible they could be the perfect thing for him to dig into.

I am a fan of Robert Florence. His video review of Dixit is one of the all time great video reviews of a game. I will usually have it loaded on my iPad before I teach the game to new players. After watching people are super motivated to try the game.

I recently learned he quit a job over remarks that bashed reviewers taking payola in Video game industry when the company was threatened with. A libel suit.

Love Rab and loved this article. That last bit...

I knew nothing about these books, but my wife knows at least one of the artisists personally. Found the 10 book box set on Amazon for $10. Not sure if I'm too old to enjoy them, but I like the idea of them and $10(!)