*This post is a bit different to what I would normally write, focusing more on the personal goings on in my life in recent times.
I began my Eve Online journey back in 2013, a couple of months before the Rubicon expansion came out. At the time I was living in a remote country town in outback Queensland (Australia) as part of my “rural service” in our state’s education system. It was my first placement as a teacher after 9 years at university (including completing my PhD), and second year as a high school teacher.
My wife and I had been married for about a year at the time, and while we had made some friends in the town, few of them shared the same interests as we did. Playing Eve helped to break the monotony of small town life, where the closest shopping centre was three hours drive away.
Being the introvert I am, I initially played on my own for a month, quickly got bored and quit. But soon something happened. I decided to have another go. I didn’t really change my playstyle, except things were very different this time around.
Before long, my wife took an interest in the game and began playing. On a whim, she joined a Redemption Road “Newbro roam”, and soon encouraged me to join in on a RvB Ganked roam. It was a turning point in how I played Eve, and the rest as they say is history.
If it wasn’t for my wife, I would never have been exposed to the greater Eve community and made the friends online that we both have made. Eve played such a massive role in our lives for many years.
And yet, after making the pilgrimage to Fanfest last year, it was time for us to take a break from the game. Our corporation had recently relocated into Providence at the time and with many changes taking place, the timing just felt right to walk away.
It also gave us the space we needed as a couple to refocus our attention towards other aspects of life.
You see, my wife has spent the last 10 or so years suffering from endometriosis. So after several laparoscopies, and five years of unsuccessfully trying to start a family, we were encouraged to start IVF. What a rollercoaster that turned out to be.
While my role in the process was quite straightfoward, my wife was subjected to a drug cocktail that involved between 2-3 daily injections for two weeks prior to egg collection. And while nine eggs were collected, only two embryos made it to a stage suitable for implantation. One was implanted and the other frozen.
This first attempt resulted in a chemical pregnancy (early miscarriage), while the second attempt (using the frozen embryo) didn’t take.
We were left in a position to decide whether to start again, until fate stuck again. This time my wife received another blow by recently being diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis.
So now we have decided to to forgo having children altogether, in the hopes of firstly improving my wife’s quality of life, and secondly to draw a line in the sand so we can just get on and enjoy the life we have.
Coincidentally, this decision to not continue with IVF came about just before Fanfest and got us thinking about the amazing and supportive community of people we had come to once know. It was a community that helped us connect to other like minded people for many years and one that has always been there for support and friendship when needed.
And for that we thank you all.
Variable Conclusion 