Thank you to PositivelyAmazonian for this confession!
Full Confession:
I think I was 13 when my father brought me my first TR, Tomb Raider II, so I could entertain myself because I was very ill and couldn’t almost move from my bed. I’d never played a videogame before. I’m a compulsive reader, but after half month in bed you get tired even of that. So I make an effort to sit before my PC and started to play. Wow. Just WOW.
“Look, Ana, she’s a girl like you”, Dad told me. And that was my motivation. She was a girl like me, and God, she did awesome things. She moved liked a ballerina, she was so graceful and flawless, with those amazing jumps and flips in the air… the weapons, the witty dialogues, the booby traps… but the best so far was the exploring. The beautiful scenarios, the rich historical and mythological background totally amazed me. It was blow-minding.
I’m still a reader, of course. Not that Tomb Raider make me lose my interest on books, travels and History. In fact, it was a reinforcement. She made me feel alive. She made me feel stronger. She was a powerful inspiration, for her independence, her cleverness, and her sarcasm. Classic and TRAOD Lara has been, and it’s still, my role model. I’m a History teacher and I had no shame in attending university lectures with Lara Croft images on my portfolios. I was proud of her, because she was a part of me. Every time I felt -and still feeling- down or weak before life challenges, I remember Lara Croft and what she taught me: to deal with everything and face challenges with self-esteem and pride.
Damn, I miss her so much.