I hope this finds you well my friend. I enjoyed meeting you at Guardian Con and I look forward to many more years with you and Bungie. Here we go: O Guardian mine, where do I start? I dived back into gaming as a birthday gift to myself after my freshly minted divorce. I heard about this game called Destiny from a friend. It was supposed to be a cross between Halo and Phantasy Star Online (DC, GC days). Never really was into FPS games, but oh man did I love me some loot grinds. Figured I’d hop into the PS4 since I left off on PS3 with Demons Souls, I even picked up the white edition of it that came with Destiny. New bachelor life, new job, new system, new game, same old love for gaming. Sounded wonderful. Oh my god was it amazing! I remember that Knight under the stairs that walloped my ass when I went exploring in the Cosmodrome. That is when I went online for information. Clans? Groups? Nightfalls? What is this metal fern? MY world literally blew open from the single player Soulsborne lover to the wide open world of Destiny and what it was going to offer me. Enter Venus and my first clan. I met them opening the Vault of Glass in the public space. It was so amazing and birthed my absolute LOVE for the Vex and lore in this game. Those guys were awesome, but they eventually moved on and I held the City steadfast while the game and its player base grew. I told others, I made friends, and I had found something that I could call a home that I had missed so much. I toppled Crota as a Titan [https://youtu.be/XFUFgIcEbBs?t=297], I triumphed in Trials [https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EJ1xIPoXkAAL0Mp?format=jpg&name=small], I suppressed in Prison of Elders, and l dethroned the Taken King [https://youtu.be/rtuld8S9rGw?t=595] making my way through every piece of content Bungie could put out for this game. I just ate it up, there was just no other choice in my mind when something for Destiny came out. I did it. I just went and did it. At this point I had met SO many people and had become a bit of a ‘grinder’ for the game. I was THE completionist. Then comes Destiny 2. It polarized my fireteams, broke my friends, and pushed so many away that it was a new start for me and my Guardians. I let the Darkness seep deep into my sinew and it festered. I worked harder and harder to be a Guardian others could look up to (like the day I ran into those fateful 6 on Venus), but in the end I pushed so many away. Forgiveness isn't something this community has a lot of and I became heartbroken with how I was turning out. All too often I found myself on the bleeding edge of ‘getting it done’ and I started to see what the Darkness really was. I aimed to be better than that. I wasn't an only child in a living room anymore… I was a GUARDIAN defending New Lights in the universe. My task, to find those who just didn't know, help those that couldn't get it, and do my best to be upstanding and humble about it. Destiny 2 has so much to do in it that many of us forget about that along the way, plugging through pinnacles, raids, etc without a second thought. Everyone has a better machine in their mind, what truly makes the Universe better is undertaking those who seek to be better and help them achieve it. Curse of Osiris, Warmind, and Forsaken hit the shelves along with the seasons. I find myself in love with a community of a game that never seems to die. There is always something to talk about, like going to a place where everyone knows your name. ‘What do you play?’, one person asks. ‘I'm a Warlock at heart!’ ‘Yeah I feel that my friend.’ This led me to Guardian Con (my first ever!). Never, once, in a Resort bustling with people did I ever feel left out. Guardians, Light Bearers, Moments of Triumphs, Raid stories, props, replicas, raid belts, EVERYTHING. It was like a damn candy store in a resort. It solidified my love for the game and it'll never be daunted. I build more and more love for those around and try to make my way as a helper and lover of the game and community, but hard times are in bound. After Guardian Con 2019 I was diagnosed with some pretty nasty Brain Tumors. I had multiple tests, MRIs, and Scans that all led to tumor removal as the only option for someone of my age. The survival rate was 80% in a person who had a 1:250k chance to get them in the first place. I confided in a few, who left for greener pastures and someone who had the guarantee of being there at the new drops. That was a promise I couldn't make so I couldn't really fault them for playing how I always thought gamers should: as they want to. After that I kept it pretty close to the heart, only wishing to continue the joy and love for the Shadowkeep and the Season of the Undying. I had some friends that I brought together for raiding and we ended up banding together on console for raid prep, starts, and all that good stuff. We raided and finished and have really good times, we banded together, and continue to run wild in our Pinnacle power growth. The time had come through to break the news to them. I told them of my Brain issues about 2 weeks before I was heading into surgery. I'm a big joker, so it took a moment or two and reiteration for it to sink in, but what happened next was something that I really wasn’t prepared for. Over the next week and Halloween, we had some final streams where I ended up explaining to the community with the little resolve and strength I had left [https://www.twitch.tv/videos/503608331], it's a long winded explanation and some of it is blocked out, so I apologize for that. It details though what I was to go through and my estimated recovery time. The support and love that came back my way after this was immeasurable. I was seeing support and help from my friends, my clan, the VERY FIRST CLAN from Venus, and the community like I had never seen before. People we had helped in their first raid clears, people we helped in PvP, people we helped everywhere. This community put forth so much love and kindness for me that I have no shame in saying that ‘I lost it.’ It was the eve of my surgery, staring out the hotel window reading notifications from those whom had heard the news. I sipped some water and some tears escaped me. Messages from past players, videos from old friends, people asking to send things, and general support for me to come out of it strong. I didn’t really sleep that night, not well. I go into surgery alone that morning (an only child, not many pals, and 3 hour away from my home) with resolve and bravery. I get my IV in and the Nurse literally says ‘Be Brave’ to which I respond in my head: ‘Ghost, stand by for rez.’ Two days later I wake up. It sucks. A lot. Another day passes and I wake up again. This continues until I finally feel like I have some sort of semblance of self again and can communicate with the doctors and the world. I reach out to my friends with one phrase: ‘I Live.’ I pass out again. I hear that is normal though as you are just getting stuff through your system and whatnot. But through multiple visits and talks, the Doc clears me. No more tumors. Anywhere. They are all gone, but the price was paid. I was completely deaf in my left ear losing the 1% of hearing I had remaining before surgery. Thus began my new journey of learning to walk, track with my eyes, and just turn my neck again. Probably shouldn't have, but I turned my phone back on when I found it again and that's when it happened. I completely broke down into tears and crumpled in my hospital bed knowing that I wasn’t really facing this alone. I saw the love, kind words, and the support of all the other Light Bearers out there. I saw the community for what it really was… AMAZING. I had never personally felt more welcomed and amazed by a gaming group as I have in Destiny. Not a single one and I absolutely love it for that. Never has an in game title meant more to me either. You see, I survived and did not succumb to the darkness. I am Undying. My story didn't end with surgery nor did it end with going deaf. It is 5 years strong and my Light will continue to shine for those new and old. My name is BoSolaris the Undying and I am a Guardian.