On this date in 2001, Animal Crossing was first released in Japan. It didn’t come to the US until the following year, and I have been there since the beginning. I have played every game (I think New Leaf is probably my all-time favorite, but I love them all!), created communities with all my favorite neighbors (Roald, obviously), worked for Tom Nook for what seemed like an eternity, and supported the local businesses (especially the museum and Brewster’s coffee shop) in every neighborhood I have been a part of. I have fond memories of characters we haven’t seen in the current game (Gracie Grace, I’m looking at you!), of furniture series that no longer exist (maybe someday they’ll bring back the Jingle line), and of game mechanics that have fallen by the wayside (I loved the Nook store evolution from “Nook’s Cranny” to “Nook ‘n’ Go” to “Nookway” to the obviously upscale “Nookington’s,” and would love to have to work to make that happen again!). Animal Crossing has been a huge part of my entire adult life, and I love that I’ve had the opportunity to share it with my children through the years. I’m hopeful that there will be an announcement of new game sooner rather than later, but in the meantime, I love the way Nintendo acknowledged this anniversary with a special leaf statue, which I am proudly displaying outside my home:

Did I mention my bestie Roald? He kindly sat down on the swing between our houses with me today for a bit!

There are still a few Lego Animal Crossing sets I haven’t been able to add to my collection…today, I picked up the least expensive one, which is also special because Goldie is one of the original, friendly characters who I remember meeting very early in my Animal Crossing experience:

It’s kind of hard for me to believe that Animal Crossing has been around for a quarter of a century through five mainline games (and a few adjacent games as well)…I hope it continues to bring joy to people around the world, and I can’t wait to see where the next game will go, and when that will be!