As a teen growing up, we find ourselves forming interests, hobbies, friendships, and passions that develop our character and often last a lifetime. For many, role-playing games are a way to explore their identity and create a shared experience with others. For one of our residents at Hope Street Terrace, he and his friends would spend hours on end sitting in a basement or around a kitchen table playing Dungeons and Dragons.
Bill started to play Dungeons and Dragons back in 1984 with the release of what fans of the game refer to as The Red Box. Using their imagination, creativity, and the luck of the dice, Bill and his friends from high school and college would collectively create and explore worlds, solve puzzles, and defeat monsters.
While time and distance would see some friends move and new friends join, one thing always brought them back together, that was their next adventure in Dungeons and Dragons. Bill and his friends spent about 20 years creating worlds, fleshing out their characters and their intricate backstories, fighting monsters all the while sharing in this collective experience with others.
It had been 20 years since Bill had last played. Bill has been dreaming of the day that he could play once again. Despite a global pandemic, through the use of imagination, creativity, and the luck of the dice, on the 4th of November, the staff were able to turn a pen-and-paper board game with physical pieces into a virtual experience so Bill could play Dungeons and Dragons once again. More importantly, he got to share in the passion of it with his new friends at Hope Street Terrace. When we finished, on a cliff hanger as many of these sessions do, Bill said, “That was awesome! I wish we could go longer. Can we do this again?”. We are excited to do this again, but this could not have been possible without the dedicated staff at Hope Street Terrace and their commitment to making dreams a reality through the Bridge to Dreams program.