Last summer my daughters went to a garage sale in our complex with some money they got walking dogs. I was expecting them to come home with the usual seven stuffed animals and a handful of cheap jewelery. They walked back into the house with one really big stuffed panda bear, a cardboard box and two really big grins. They handed me the box and I opened it carefully. They had that look in their eyes that had me expecting to see a lizard or something.

It was a tangle of black wires and half-familiar bat-a-rang shapes. I gave them a quizzical look. I picked up the mess on top and the words "Sega Genesis" were revealed. We knelt right down there in the hallway and took the rest of the stuff out of the box. It had anything a gamer in 1989 could want, including 8 games. Ho-leeee Man!

The girls started laughing at the look on my face. They told me that they got a great deal for it - seven dollars for all of the stuff in the box plus the bear. Danica said that they would be as geeky as me at this rate. I laughed. I warned them that it might not all be there, and it might be hard to get any parts that were missing. They said they knew that, but they figured what might not be there we could find down at our trusty game shop. I told them it was awfully old, and it might not work. They answered that the guy they brought it from said it worked. Okay, well, let's give this a whirl.

We had quite a time getting it shoehorned into the daisy-chain of stuff attached to their TV. It was quite an event, complete with several friends coming over to officiate and a break for some very messy peanut butter sandwiches and a round of Kool-aid. It all turned out to be there. Miranda topped off the setup by plugging in a game. We all looked at each other, held our breath, and hit the switch together. It loaded right up. I was amazed. I felt like Dr. Frankenstein.

IT'S ALIIIIIVVVVVVEEEE!

The girls and the flock settled down to a spinning good time with "Sonic and Knuckles" with the "Sonic and Tails" add-on cartridge clipped into the top while I just sat and stared. The odds of finding it whole, and the odds of it still being in operational condition were astronomical.

I don't know anything about where it was all that time. It wasn't dusty or anything so they either used it or took care of it. I'll never know. Those people moved out that day. That Cool Spot game that was in there occaisionally gets "lost" by me so it can take a break, but otherwise it's been a great addition to our stable. It's settled into the gaming life of our house and holds it own with the latest consoles. It's been part of our girls' 13th birthday party, and far too many sleep-overs and afternoon flocks of friends.

I'm proud of my daughters in my geekiest fashion. They knew what they were looking at, and they valued it enough to get it with their own hard earned money. And unlike so many of the rest of these purchases, it gets almost daily use. Well done, my Padawans. Well done indeed.

Originally posted as Momgamer #26 on Gamerdad.