The author reminisces about early childhood memories spent watching their parents play Super Mario Bros on the NES. This experience became a vivid, joyful recollection of their father, who passed away when the author was just four. The Nintendo console symbolizes a connection to happier times, and when the mother discovers it during spring cleaning, it ignites a desire to restore it in his father's memory. These memories help the author cope with grief, highlighting how gaming conveys lasting familial bonds.
One of my earliest memories is watching my mum and dad play the opening level of Super Mario Bros in cooperative mode on the Nintendo Entertainment System. This was the early 1990s, and they were joined at the hip on the sofa, laughing at the idea of two portly plumbers becoming gigantic after consuming copious amounts of magic mushrooms. An ordinary human being rather than the tragic myth he became.
But the formative image of dad at his most carefree and in love, clutching a rectangular controller hooked up to a grey slab of Japanese joy, remained. It was something I could utilise whenever my grief became too much. Most importantly, the memory allowed me to visualize my dad as an ordinary human being rather than the tragic myth he later became.
I was shocked recently when my mum unexpectedly handed me the console after finding it during a spring clean. She asked me if I could try to fix it, so that we could keep it in the family. It had no leads, games, or controllers.
Our household was working-class with limited space, so eventually the NES disappeared: no one could work out whether it was gathering dust in an old plastic bag in a relative's loft, or if it had been accidentally thrown out.
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