I've been searching for a nice community and stumbled in here.  I am 40 now, but grew up with Legos into my teen years.  After that, well, I didn't have much time for the hobby and it faded away mostly.

Fast forward to the now.  I didn't really fall back into the exciting hobby I once knew as a kid.  It was all by "happenstance". 

Let's rewind a few years.  2012, I had been a cop for 13 years.  One night, I was outside of my patrol car with some kids that were out at 2am without permission.  While I was talking with them, I was struck by a passing car.  I suffered a lot of injuries, but the worst was the brain injury.  Let's skip through the past 4 years.  I saw the Ghostbusters firehouse through an advertisement for the new movie.  I LOVED the franchise and figured I'd give it a go.  It really put my recovery to the test.  I had to use a lot of strategies to be able to build that monster. 

My wife and I saw that I used my notes that I have to keep every day, lists of different strategies I use daily to solve problems.  So, I've been getting different sets to try and learn new ways to do things that others take for granted each day. 

 

That's the short version.  So, I'm really happy to be here, and look forward to reading and contributing the best I can to the community. 

Welcome to Brickpicker!  

Welcome to the forums . Respect all around from protecting our communities to your recovery efforts . Best of luck . 

Welcome.  Sorry to hear about that terrible accident, but I'm glad to hear your recovery has been helped by this great product.

Welcome to BP. Thank you very much for your service and your story.

Thanks everyone.  I know these things look the same for everyone, afterall, it's the same builds lol, but I'll post some pictures of what I have done when I'm allowed to.

Words fail me at a time like this    All I can say is thank you for sharing your story with us and to echo the sentiments of so many others, especially thank you for serving our country.  Legos are about bringing out the kid in all of us and so glad they have helped in your recovery..

3 minutes ago, LegoWalker4 said:

Words fail me at a time like this    All I can say is thank you for sharing your story with us and to echo the sentiments of so many others, especially thank you for serving our country.  Legos are about bringing out the kid in all of us and so glad they have helped in your recovery..

Thank you.  I appreciate the sentiment.  This is much different than the other things I do each day to try and get some normalcy back in my life.

Welcome and enjoy your stay at brickpicker.

Despite all the complaints on the forum lately. I hope we can bring a smile on your face sometimes. Your story makes one humble and reminds one that there are more important things in life.

welcome to our nut house. 

We are all humbled that you are here. Welcome!

Welcome, and I'm just hoping your account name is not l33t-speak ... there's nothing to be afraid of here

Welcome to Brickpicker,

You are most welcome here .

Welcome!

Welcome to the site, F34R!

Thanks for sharing & welcome!

There is a lot of info here heavily slanted towards investing, so be sure to also check out the Brickset forums for more general info.  There is a lot of crossover, and both are useful.

Happy reading & building!  

Welcome to Brickpicker! Thanks for sharing your story. I can imagine it being quite the journey up until now. It's also good to know you have a supporting wife to help you pull through.

Word to the wise: start slowly with buying Lego and let you wife get used to it. In a few years when your wife notices all storage spaces are full and big sets are scattered through the house, it's too late to stop you!

On ‎8‎/‎30‎/‎2016 at 9:49 PM, Ciglione said:

Welcome and enjoy your stay at brickpicker.

Despite all the complaints on the forum lately. I hope we can bring a smile on your face sometimes. Your story makes one humble and reminds one that there are more important things in life.

I smiled when the registration went through.  hehe.   Yeah, you just don't ever know what's going to happen.  If anything had gone wrong from the time I was hit, I wouldn't have made it.  I was as near to death.  They didn't even think I was going to survive.  I know now what "taking for granted" means in a literal sense.

On ‎8‎/‎30‎/‎2016 at 9:50 PM, brickcrazyhouse said:

welcome to our nut house. 

Thank you!

On ‎8‎/‎30‎/‎2016 at 9:51 PM, pstebbing said:

We are all humbled that you are here. Welcome!

 

Thank you!

On ‎8‎/‎30‎/‎2016 at 9:54 PM, Phil B said:

Welcome, and I'm just hoping your account name is not l33t-speak ... there's nothing to be afraid of here

Well, I've been going by this name on the Internet since '97 lol.

On ‎8‎/‎30‎/‎2016 at 10:16 PM, jaisonline said:

Welcome to Brickpicker,

Thank you, I'm glad to be here.

On ‎8‎/‎30‎/‎2016 at 10:34 PM, labfreak7 said:

You are most welcome here .

Perfect!!

On ‎8‎/‎30‎/‎2016 at 10:39 PM, lobo1969 said:

Welcome!

Thank you!

On ‎8‎/‎31‎/‎2016 at 0:37 AM, TheOrcKing said:

Welcome to the site, F34R!

Thank you, and love the waving smiley lol.

23 hours ago, xeeeej said:

Thanks for sharing & welcome!

There is a lot of info here heavily slanted towards investing, so be sure to also check out the Brickset forums for more general info.  There is a lot of crossover, and both are useful.

Happy reading & building!  

I'm all for learning, whether it's building, investing, etc.  I might not invest, but reading about it is still interesting.

21 hours ago, Legojona said:

Welcome to Brickpicker! Thanks for sharing your story. I can imagine it being quite the journey up until now. It's also good to know you have a supporting wife to help you pull through.

Word to the wise: start slowly with buying Lego and let you wife get used to it. In a few years when your wife notices all storage spaces are full and big sets are scattered through the house, it's too late to stop you!

She has been here for me every day.  I didn't start out small.  I went for the big tamale lol.  Ghostbusters firehouse.  After that, Brick Bank.  A few other odds and ends, smaller projects.  I'll add a link to everything in the OP.

As others said before me, welcome.  I like your name very much.  Very creative and appropriate.

I'm guessing the option to edit a post expires after a certain time, so, I'll just add as it goes...

Here I am after surgery:

Here are some builds I've done in the past few months:

Ghostbusters Firehouse

LINK

Brick Bank

LINK

Lego Creator Vacation Getaway

LINK

You know sometimes on this site, people will insist that LEGO bricks are just a commodity and I will argue they are more than that, that they help people connect with one another or help teach or help people express their "emotions."  LEGO bricks are more than pieces of ABS plastic and your post only strengthens my strong feelings about this subject.  Thank you for posting and putting things into perspective for many of us.  We take a lot for granted.

Welcome to the forum, glad to hear you are on the road to recovery!! Enjoy the 'brick' we look forward to your comments and posts of your completed sets ! ;o)

Welcome to the club, we have good & fun people around here. your story will touch & inspire many....

1 hour ago, Ed Mack said:

You know sometimes on this site people will insist that LEGO bricks just a commodity and I will argue they are more than that, that they help people connect with one another or help teach or help people express their "emotions."  LEGO bricks are more than pieces of ABS plastic and your post only strengthens my strong feelings about this subject.  Thank you for posting and putting things into perspective for many of us.  We take a lot for granted.

I wasn't sure how well I'd be able to do, but having instructions to follow helped a LOT.  I also wasn't sure how this could help, but sticking with the brain injury strategies I use every day, building the Lego sets definitely reinforces those strategies.

20 minutes ago, Manse1001 said:

Welcome to the forum, glad to hear you are on the road to recovery!! Enjoy the 'brick' we look forward to your comments and posts of your completed sets ! ;o)

Thank you.  I've been on that road for almost 4 1/2 years.  It's a life long recovery.  Thank you.

9 minutes ago, Deanfjr said:

Welcome to the club, we have good & fun people around here. your story will touch & inspire many....

Thank you.

Welcome to our addiction ! Heart goes out to you and your family. Lego is enjoyed by my entire household and it has helped my 3 yr old and 6 yr old with their motor skills and following directions. Lego is truly a rewarding hobby in many ways =)