Roesler 1

Eliza Roesler

Professor Donegan

English 1A: Critical Thinking and Writing

27 September 2019

I Need Wiihab

Who remembers Mario Kart? A childhood wouldn’t have been complete without the

extreme competition between friends racing each other around the track, or swinging as hard as

possible to get that perfect speed serve in Wii Tennis. Many of my memories from elementary,

middle, and, I’ll admit, high school, were made by playing wii. The hours spent practicing to

become a pro in my favorite sport so I could beat everyone the next time we played together, the

feeling of rebellion when I didn’t put my wrist strap on, and the “Why not take a break and go

outside?” warning that reminded me how much time I spent playing were essential. The Wii is

one of the few things I can say is truly a gem of my childhood and is a classic compared to all of

the new gaming out there and, to me, it’s one of the greatest links to other people.

I still remember the morning I got it vividly. Flashback to Christmas morning and I was

in second grade. I woke up at four in the morning to peek downstairs for Santa, and when I knew

the coast was clear, I carefully untaped the presents with my name on them. I chose the biggest

box first. I just knew it had to be what I wanted​—a Wii. Every kid knows that the best gifts are

the biggest, heaviest, most-stuffed-under-the-tree ones. I was so excited that I even held my

excitement until five hours later when I was finally allowed to wake up my family. I even nailed

the “Wow, I had no idea!” face. As soon as we were done opening all of the presents, I grabbed
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my grandpa and dragged him to the Wii. I spent the rest of the day playing with my grandpa until

I had to be torn away to eat dinner. We had exhausted ourselves with every sport offered on the

Wii and played rounds and rounds of Just Dance. I always remember how fun it was to dance

with him. He had a contagious energy and would pick me up and spin me around. We would try

to figure out how to tango, or we’d fall onto the ground laughing when he accidentally dropped

me or I stepped on his toes. We had these insane competitions that would last for hours.

When we weren’t overexerting ourselves, we were talking. His favorite thing was to go to

breakfast. Every time he and my grandma were visiting, they’d take us to McDonald’s in the

morning and we would split scrambled eggs, sausage, and pancakes. He’d tease me when I

“ruined” his pancakes by dumping syrup on them, but secretly I don’t think he ever really liked

the pancakes, he just got them for me. The best part, however, were his stories. He was the most

fascinating man. He lettered in 11 sports, was captain of the track team, played on the legendary

undefeated USMA ‘58 football team, and graduated as an aerospace engineer from West Point.

He went on to serve his country as one of the few pilots to have ever circumnavigated the globe

by crossing the Pacific three times and the Atlantic once. He also deployed to Vietnam. To me,

he was a Sunday school teacher and worked a boring desk job, and he was my grandpa. Yet,

every once in a while he would amaze me with a story that seemed impossible. The Wii brought

us together and made us close and I constantly felt like our time was really important to him, and

I never fully understood the value until it became clear that that was one of the last times I would

get to play with him.

He was diagnosed with cancer a few months later, but I didn’t know until the next

Christmas, when he was given six months to live. My dad had pulled us aside before leaving for
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the airport to go visit him and my grandma. He told me that grandpa would look different, that he

was sick. I thought it was like a cold or something minor and was looking forward to finally

beating him in bowling because of how much I’d been practicing. They had even bought a Wii

for their house for when we came over. When we got there, my grandpa was using a walker, and

he didn’t have his usual energy. When we did play Wii, he could only do it sitting down and I

mostly played by myself. I felt like I had been exiled to the kids’ table at Thanksgiving dinner,

where the adults act like you couldn’t possibly understand their conversations so they cram you

next to the toddler mashing crayons in his mouth. I just sat around the house a lot alone. We still

got to have our breakfasts that week, but he didn’t have an appetite from his medication. I was

confused why he would choose to stay in his room all day, away from us, away from spending

time playing with me. My realization about the graveness of his condition came later that week. I

peeked in the door after my dad and grandma disappeared for a while. They were helping him

into a hospital bed. Not his usual bed, but a narrow, stiff, wire-clad cot. They slid up the

off-white siding like a crib and screeched the back up to a comfortable level for him to sleep. I

wasn’t supposed to see him like that. I knew then he wouldn’t ever get to dance with me again:

no more sliding me through his legs, no more piggyback rides; no more spending the whole day

playing Wii.

I’m glad that we had our connection when I was young. He was always my Wii

challenger, my dance buddy, and​—​don’t tell my grandma​—​my favorite grandparent. My parents

weren’t around a lot when I was younger because of their careers in the army, and my

grandparents on both sides helped take care of us in between nannies and deployments. The man

who had helped raise me and humored me for hours on end, the man that didn’t complain once
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about being tired after a full day of activities with me, and the man that I always adored, wasn’t

going to be there anymore.

I still played Wii with friends, but it became something new for me. The Wii became a

source of comfort and helped me make friends and new memories. As my family moved from

military base to military base, my Wii went with me. I could tell you when I got each one and the

specific memory attached to it. Cooking Mama I got with my best friend in 3rd grade, and after

playing it for hours we were certain that we could replicate one of the recipes. We trashed her

kitchen. Wii Sports Resort I remember I saved up for for weeks and even sold my Nintendo DS

to pay for it. My neighbors across the street came over to play all the time, and to this day they

swear to me that they didn’t steal it, but I’m sure that they did because I brought it to their house

once and never saw it again. Family Game Night I couldn’t stop playing, and it was the first

night I’ve ever pulled an all-nighter. We played Life and created complicated backstories so that

our players would have sufficient character development. Having my Wii, so full of memories

and fun and potential friendships, made all of the changes and moves so much easier. It was also

a good reminder of the happiness it brought me with my grandfather. When we moved to

Novato, where I live now, it stayed with me. All the way through high school, my friends and I

would dedicate “Wii time.” It grew into a way to de-stress and brought my friends and me

together for simple fun. As we grew up and went on to new activities, I still hoarded Wii games

and, every once in a while, I would power up the Wii to stay in shape for my pro-level status.

I’ll never forget the times that I almost whacked the person next to me in the face because

I got a little too into it. And the times I did hit my friend in the face. Or the arguments it started

because someone cheated. And the times when I pretended like it was my first time playing. I’ll
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remember the times when I could’ve gone to a party and instead chose to play Wii Party. And

when I would be late to dance practice because I lost track of time playing Just Dance. Sure,

every once in a while I’d resurface. Wasn’t having a lemonade stand a normal staple of

everyone’s childhood? And why did I have a lemonade stand? To buy more Wii games, of

course. After all, I did have a pro image to uphold.

While packing for college and running around the house looking for what I was missing,

I saw my Wii. I held it in my hands, and the memories through the years flooded back in. The

good times spent playing, and all of the places I had brought it with me. I reminisced of the odd

little memories attached to this white box. The corner that’s chipped from when I accidentally

kicked it playing a country line dance game. I swear, the more I emphasized the moves, the more

points I got. I ran my hand over it as I thought back. The broken sensor bar next to it brought me

back to when my mom was vacuuming and ripped the wire out of the back. The frayed edge

reminded me of that whole day I spent crying that the Wii was broken and I forced her to drive to

the town over to go buy me another Wii Sensor. I remembered how hard it was to put it in the

right spot so that it wouldn’t fall or be too far away. I laughed at all the instances when we would

yell at the TV because it slid behind the screen and we had to rematch because no one’s remote

worked for the final few seconds, and the countless explanations I made to friends that they had

to sit in the middle and lean forward so that it would reach. I’d lecture that they should ignore the

back pain and push past the arm numbness and play! Watching them wiggle around to get a feel

for it, or keep picking the wrong thing because they didn’t have the position down quite yet was

usually a comical experience. And then I find myself putting it in a box to bring it with me to

Santa Clara.
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Bringing my Wii with me helped me with my transition to college. I have something

from home with so many positive experiences attached to it. Finally, I had a piece of my grandpa

and his memory with me as I headed for this new chapter filled with change. Leaving for college

forced me to choose between what I needed and what I could leave behind. I found that I wasn’t

quite ready to leave that behind yet. After all, I was moving to a new place without my parents,

my friends, and everything that was once familiar. I’m hoping it’ll help me feel less alone.

People say that with college comes all this freedom and free time. I guess the one good thing

about starting over here is that my mom doesn’t know how late I’m up playing Wii.