My First Computer
In line with many others from my generation, my first computer was the family desktop we bought on sale at Best Buy. It was a large, heavy Gateway in the standard-issue beige color for the era. The CPU tower was tucked under the desk so it would rest against your knees when you were sitting at it. It would beep and whir in delight when we would play together. The LCD monitor was a thick unit that covered the desk so I barely had enough space for the keyboard and the cow-print mousepad. The LCD screen sat so close to my face that I could see the outline of every pixel if I looked hard enough.
I used that computer much more than either of my parents, and certainly more than my sister, who was a normal little girl who preferred to dance around in princess dresses. I used it to talk to my cousins back home in Venezuela. They would practice their English and I would sharpen my Spanish over MSN and AIM. Those were simpler times. The messages slowed to a trickle until over time until they stopped coming in at all. We grew up and apart with thousands of miles between us.
Sometimes I miss the early days when technology so easily connected us. Now we have countless social media sites as well as court cases against them for melting our children's brains. I didn't grow up with selfie cameras or deceptive photo filters. Growing up with a screen didn't make me antisocial during the Wild West days of the early internet. It allowed me to keep in touch with family members a continent away and even make new friends online. It was a very different space.
I was a big fan of virtual pet websites like Neopets. Playing those earlier-internet games taught me how to code, design graphics, and write better. I would sit at that desk all day long until my parents forced me to power off the whirring machine. They said it wasn't proper for a young lady to spend so much time on the computer. That's not for girls.
My parents cherished their Ataris when they were younger. They didn't really understand or believe in the video games of the early millennium, though. They've only grown more confused and appalled at the others that have been released since, which I've come to support them on. When I was born, their minds were filled with visions of pink bows and pretty dolls. I also liked those things, I just liked exploring the wide world of the internet, too. It wasn't until many years later that my uncle finally convinced them to join the new age with a family Wii.
Like any other kid, I wasn't perfect. I would get frustrated at regular kid things and get upset when I thought my parents were being unfair. My parents knew I didn't care about missing a few playdates or awkward birthday parties. They would have to ground me by taking away my computer access because they knew it was the thing I cared the most about. Every time I protested, my dad would add another week onto the counter. I would watch the calendar like a hawk for those two, three, four weeks to finally be up so I could go back to my pixel pets and my online friends.
I like to remind my parents just how easy they had it. They eventually realized how lucky they were to have a kid who preferred to stay at home with family and wholesome entertainment instead of the kids their friends complained about. Those children would sneak out at night and come home slurring their words. I just wanted to play some games, write a story, maybe feed a virtual pet or two.
My grandpa understood me. He always loved getting his hands on the latest technological advances. He knew that's where the future was going. My future, at least. His cancer came back, this time as a rare, aggressive form in his brain instead of scattered throughout his lungs. This wasn't his first rodeo. Between that and the fact he was a doctor, he was acutely aware that he didn't have long left.
My grandpa came to visit us from Venezuela as part of his farewell tour. He wanted to see us up in the Northeast during a trip up north to Miami for one last treatment. He surprised me with a brand-new, flat-screen desktop monitor so I could more easily explore our shared passion. He loved marveling at technology and saw that same value in me. It was the last thing he ever gave me. I used that computer every day until many years later when my parents bought a family laptop.
Today, I'm writing this from my personal laptop, which I just replaced after spending a decade with my previous machine. I also have a work laptop, which I rely on entirely to do my job as a remote worker. I work hard at what I do and have built my career on my success working remotely through the computer. I think my grandpa would be pretty proud if he saw where his gift propelled me to today.