Please jot down a memory of Brian, or a photo with him in it, or just tell us how you were connected.
wrote on March 1, 2023
at
8:25 pm
I first met Brian in 1991 or 1992. He worked with my brother Eric at Safeco Insurance, and he came over to the house we were renting one night after work. We tried to figure out some of the rules to Shadowrun second edition, namely the pretty basic mechanic in such a game to shoot a gun at a bad guy. The rules made no sense to us and the pretend weapon did nothing, but what did make sense was that we should start playing games together.
We switched to Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition, a game we all knew well, and played for years together over several editions of the game (the odd-numbered ones), with different people around the table over time. Among those people were Jennifer, and, as soon as they could read the rules, Thyrza and Barrett. Before they could earn their treasured seat at the gaming table, the kids (like I said, this was around 1992) would sometimes roll dice for us.
Around the table in the back room of their first little house in West Seattle, thanks to Brian, I finally developed the ability to do math in my post-collegiate brain, as I struggled to keep up with Brian's inner calculator. This is just one of the many ways in which he inspired and challenged me to improve, just by being himself.
Years later, my own kids would join us at Uncle Brian's gaming table. And though the people present at Game Night changed over the years, what stayed constant was the fun, the outright hilarity, and the comradeship, centered around whatever chair Brian was in. Despite various breaks throughout the years, we were still playing regularly right up until Brian got sick and couldn't comfortably sit at the gaming table any more. He lives on in our memories, and I hope we will soon get to the point where we can continue to gather, tell stories, and roll dice in his honor.
Please join me in remembering Brian here, and share with all of us the stories you'd be telling with him, if you could sit down with Brian one last time.
We switched to Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition, a game we all knew well, and played for years together over several editions of the game (the odd-numbered ones), with different people around the table over time. Among those people were Jennifer, and, as soon as they could read the rules, Thyrza and Barrett. Before they could earn their treasured seat at the gaming table, the kids (like I said, this was around 1992) would sometimes roll dice for us.
Around the table in the back room of their first little house in West Seattle, thanks to Brian, I finally developed the ability to do math in my post-collegiate brain, as I struggled to keep up with Brian's inner calculator. This is just one of the many ways in which he inspired and challenged me to improve, just by being himself.
Years later, my own kids would join us at Uncle Brian's gaming table. And though the people present at Game Night changed over the years, what stayed constant was the fun, the outright hilarity, and the comradeship, centered around whatever chair Brian was in. Despite various breaks throughout the years, we were still playing regularly right up until Brian got sick and couldn't comfortably sit at the gaming table any more. He lives on in our memories, and I hope we will soon get to the point where we can continue to gather, tell stories, and roll dice in his honor.
Please join me in remembering Brian here, and share with all of us the stories you'd be telling with him, if you could sit down with Brian one last time.