This year marked the 25th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda, my absolute favorite game series as a child.  It feels weird to me that Zelda is now a veteran in the relatively young medium of video games, and children are still discovering it for the first time 25 years later.  Here is my story of my time with Zelda, and what it taught me.

It was 1988 in a Wal-Mart in the middle of midwestern nowhere that I first saw it, and was hooked at the title screen (in my defense, it had a sword on it and I was six years old).  Standing at the demo kiosk, I heard to the now classic theme music (click here to listen while you read) and could only wonder what adventure awaited when I pushed start.  Little did I know how the series and I would grow together and the many lessons it would teach me along the way.  I know we all remember this one, as it was in the first cave on the first screen.

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It’s December, though you wouldn’t know it here in North Carolina until you see all the Christmas decorations.  The snow-blanketed Christmases of my youth have been replaced by sunny and 50ºF.  I’m not complaining.   For my family (wife, dog, me) December means travel time — preparation, planning, packing, and I’m sure a whole host of other things beginning with a “p.”

This year I found myself reflecting on my trip home last December.  It wasn’t monumental or life-changing, but a few days after I returned to Carolina I felt compelled to write a list of things I learned during the trip home.  Some of them were real-world reinforcements of the blatantly obvious, some were things I knew but didn’t know, some hit me like a ton of bricks.  All were poignant.   Today I share that list with you.

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