Big Red

I built this rig with my dad. We made it together right when he first got me into computer gaming. I was 16 at the time, and he helped me pick out all the parts and pore over the details, going through review after review to get what fit our needs best. That's what dad was always good at. Mom would make fun of him all the time. Every time we needed something, like new cleats for my younger sister playing soccer or a drawing tablet for my younger brother to get his ideas out on something other than loose-leaf paper, we knew that we'd be waiting at least a week or two or three before my dad finally came back to us with the "definitive best choice" for each of us.

This rig isn't the most powerful, or the most beautiful, or the most expensive. But it is what worked for us at the time. When we built it the first time, I was so excited that the fan had color! It lit up the corner of our house's computer room a bright red, shining that hue across our decade-old family PC hunched over next to it. This new PC was so futuristic and new and... big! And that's how we decided to name it. Big Red.

Now I'm 22, working a job two states away, in my own apartment, typing this up on the same untouched machine that I put together with my dad all those years ago. It's seen countless games, countless hours of watching videos, doing homework, dialing in to work calls, connecting online with friends hundreds of miles away. And I'm glad I still have Big Red to keep me company.