Aug 1987: Mom comes home from the hospital, so have a big party at the house using our settlement money. I make invitations on Pagemaker with confetti clipart and send them out to the neighborhood. Everybody comes.
Oct 1987: I start volunteering at the library’s computer lab, because Mom says I’m going to need community service for my college resume. Stacy Bixler leans on my desk asks me if I can do that trick that Andrew McCarthy does in “Pretty in Pink.” I don’t know what she’s talking about, but I say I can anyway. She laughs when I try and says maybe I need to go see more movies. I answer, “maybe,” and she stands there a little afterward, like she’s waiting for something.
Jan 1988: After another doctor’s visit, Dad mentions that maybe we should get an IBM, too. The next day, he goes around and buys one, and tinker with MS-DOS together. Later, Phil Ascher comes over and gives me the demo for Nightbomber and Kingdom of Kroz and we play all afternoon.
Mar 1988: Dad’s prognosis gets worse. Sometimes he goes into the bedroom with the home video recorder, taping things that he says we can watch later.
May 1988: I finally get SimCity for the IBM. I spend all my time after school building up my town with extra police, extra firemen, and extra roads for escape routes, just in case.
