Like Brother, Like Brother

On this cool, October morning, Seth awoke at 7:30 a.m., showered, dressed, and waited patiently until I got up at 8:00. I don't think I've seen him awake before noon on a Saturday in at least a year. Why this day? This day was the release Pokemon X, a 3DS game Seth pre-ordered using his precious babysitting cash. I took him to breakfast at Kneader's, then on to GameStop, where I waited in my warm car while he waited in a cold line for the store to open at 9:00.

He comes from a long tradition of video-gamers. I remember Christmas of 1999. It was the first year a video-game system found its way into our home, in this case the Nintendo Game Boy Color. Eight-year-old Isaiah had wished for it with a child's desperate longing, never imagining one could ever really be his. But I was on a mission, and it took exactly that to get one of these things; they were extremely popular that year! I had visited several stores, and the story was the same: when a shipment of the hand-held Game Boy Color consoles comes in, every one of them is sold in less than an hour. What was a Christmas mom like me to do? And a pregnant one, at that! Yep, Seth was with me on this endeavor, though he knew it not. I was about three months' pregnant at the time.

After searching countless stores with zero success, I finally appealed to the mercy of a kind salesman at GameStop in the mall in Burlington. "My eight-year-old really wants one of these. And he has no idea he might get one. And it will be the best surprise ever. Is there any way you can help me?" He took pity and offered to take my name and phone number. As soon as a shipment came in, he would call me. If I could get over there before they were gone, one would be mine. I remember it as clearly as if it were yesterday when that phone call came. They received three units: one pink, one yellow, and one teal blue. "I'm on my way. Be there in 10 minutes. PLEASE save me either the yellow or the teal. I don't think he wants pink."

I was in my car and on the road in a matter of seconds. Ten minutes later, I held in my hands what would be the best surprise of Christmas morning: a shiny, teal blue, Game Boy Color. It would be the last gift Isaiah opened. I wouldn't even put it under the tree ahead of time. He would think he had opened everything, and then I'd bring out this one last gift. It went flawlessly. The surprise was everything and more than I anticipated. Isaiah looked at me with those giant, ocean-blue eyes with thick, dark eyelashes, his mouth wide open, and once he could speak, said in astonishment, "A GAME BOY COLOR! YOU GOT ME A GAME BOY COLOR?"

For the next three months, he played, but never by himself. Sprawled over him constantly was six-year-old Eli, straining every muscle he had to see the screen in Isaiah's hands. Isaiah was so patient. He never told Eli he couldn't watch. He never pushed him away. He never complained. March 13th was Eli's seventh birthday. He had a face full of chicken pox and had been home from school all day, miserable and itchy, a sad way to spend a birthday. But you should have witnessed the attitude transformation when he opened his only present, a bright yellow Game Boy Color. Let the gaming begin!

That was 13 years ago. Since then, Isaiah and Eli have bought, sold, and traded a wide array of gaming systems, along with countless games. I can't begin to remember all their names, but one stands out in particular. On November 19, 2006, Nintendo released its latest and greatest game system: the Wii! It was anxiously anticipated by gamers everywhere, including my two teenage sons, then 15 and 13. In order to get one on that very day, you had to pre-order it and then go to the store, take a number, and wait in line all day until midnight when it was released. Yep, Isaiah and Eli did just that. Walmart, my least favorite store on the planet, had set up an entire room in the back just for these people who would be squatting there all day. I stopped by several times, bringing sustenance to my waiting children in the form of candy, soda, and a McDonald's dinner. By midnight, I was home in bed, but even then it took the boys three more hours to get their game system because they had to wait for their number to be called. Eventually, they made it home, but of course they couldn't just put the thing away and go to bed. No way!

Seth was born into this world. Wait, actually he was part of this gaming world even before he was born, as he unknowingly accompanied me in my quest for that elusive Game Boy Color for my Isaiah-pie all those years ago. No surprise, Seth joined right in just as soon as he was old enough to hold a controller. He can play with the best of them and does so regularly. This new game he bought yesterday is played on the hand-held Nintendo 3DS, a few generations past Isaiah's first Game Boy Color.

I'll say straight up that, personally, I don't love video-games. In truth, I've never played one but I don't think I'd like them. I don't like animated-type stuff, and I really hate violence. Plus, I'm painfully awful at games of any kind; from board games to card games to electronic word games, I totally suck! When I play games, I lose so badly that I often wonder if I am mentally challenged but no one has had the nerve to tell me? So it's not likely I'd excel playing video-games, and in addition, they are crazy addictive. That said, video-games have created a bond among Isaiah, Eli, and Seth, which has now extended to Mathew. Though spread out 14 years from oldest to youngest, they are connected. For that, I am thankful. Admittedly, I get frustrated with the constant gaming, but even so, I do not regret going to the store on that cold day in 1999 and begging that nice GameStop salesman to save me a Game Boy Color.

Like brother, like brother.