Breath of the Wild
"It's dangerous to go alone, take this"
-The Old Man, The Legend of Zelda

This week is full of the most incredible and amazing stories and experiences. Especially when it comes to people specifically meant for me to talk to. There were three incredibly notable encounters in particular this week that I wanted to lay out on the table because I think they are pretty cool, and I think you will too. One of them, as a matter of fact, has to do with, well what else: NINTENDO. If you didn't know this about me, you've either been living under a rock or being extremely negligent, but I LOVE Nintendo. Almost unconditionally in fact. This week, yet again, I managed to meet somebody that loves Nintendo. Unlike most however, this man's story will likely inspire even the hardest of hearts, and because of that I urge you to read carefully, and with an open mind, because it's likely this story could change your entire perspective on gaming as a whole. First off, let me introduce you guys to a man named Walt. Like any other kid, the early years of Walt's childhood were spent running around and playing with other kids. He ran, he jumped, he lived a carefree life in his happy little world, but at the age of 6 years old, something happened that would forever change Walt's life. You see, that was when Walt was diagnosed with Polio. Polio is an extremely dangerous disease to get at the age of 6, and for a long time Walt was confined to live within the walls of a hospital room. They told him he would not and could not ever walk, jump, run, or swim, ever again. In his own words, Walt says his response to these claims was simple: "Just watch me". From there Walt began to work at it daily until he was able to walk around somewhat freely. From there, his life became a day to day miracle as he continued to work his hardest to prove the doctors wrong and become successful despite the affects of polio continuing to weigh on him. He obtained 7 college degrees, swam professionally for a while, and loved life, until the dreaded disease came back to finish the job. Now almost completely paralyzed, depressed, and suffering from tremors, Walt was told his only option was to sit at home and watch reruns. Walt, being Walt of course, would not stand for that, and even though he'd never been into gaming much before, he saw a commercial for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild on TV, and since he now, had nothing better to do, he figured what the heck and gave it a purchase. Walt was blown away by what he could do in the gaming world, and it inspired him to try to make the most of his situation. He says he has less tremors than he used to thanks to the game, and he feels like his other symptoms have been lessened as a result of gaming as well. When I asked Walt if we could come back and talk more, he told me it would mean a great deal to him to have a discussion with someone who knew what the symbol of the triforce meant. In other words, we were invited to come and teach him all because I happened to know the symbol on his shirt. Its amazing and wonderful to hear about video games being used for such a positive purpose. If you didn't appreciate video games before, or even if you did, I hope this story made your day, because I was absolutely impressed by Walt and his story.

As if that wasn't cool enough, we also met a guy named Dan who plays the accordion, and he's pretty cool. We will probably end up teaching him a lot more too, since he loved talking to us, and, well, he plays the accordion, so I mean how could he not be awesome?

We also had a bunch of great first lessons. One was with a guy named Rikki, who is just as incredible as the brave Heropon of the same name from Xenoblade Chronicles. If there was any lingering doubt, I love that game. Especially Rikki the legendary Noppon hero! I still don't think I'll play the sequel on switch though. I played the Wii U version for a long time, and didn't finish it, and I wanted to try the 3DS version because they are completely different games, but enough about Xenoblade, that's unrelated. Anyway, we spoke to Rikki the brave Heropon about the restoration and he was really interested, so you'll probably hear more about him in the coming weeks.

I think that just about wraps it up. Me and Elder York have been trying our best to cook up dinners for ourselves, but I'm afraid we're coming up a bit short. But anyways, that's about it from us here in Kekaha!

Aloha!

Pictures: Me and Elder York in front of Waimea Canyon.  We always somehow end up in Waimea Canyon on p days.  Also a new shirt I bought even though I told myself I didn't need any more t-shirts.  (I thought it was worth it for this one to be the exception. It matches my Jurassic Park shirt.)  And finally p day drawings.