Hannah Boquet

This gorgeous electronic came with four controllers, and it turns out my parents didn't throw our TV away, they just put it in storage.

So they brought that old box down, and we all got to sit down and play together.

It was a blast playing with my brothers, and sometimes I even won.

Like I said, I was pretty good at Diddy Kong racing.

But the true joy came when we would get to connect with my dad.

You see, my dad had two distinct sides to his personality.

On one side, he was pretty strict and serious and a disciplinarian, which I understand he was raising a gaggle of children, so that can kind of be expected.

But on the other side of him, he was playful and carefree and absolutely hilarious.

And when we all got to race and play together, this is the part of him that we got to see.

My brother Ezra told me a story about one day he was sitting at home playing Halo, and dad came home on his lunch break.

Dad sat down and started playing with him, and pretty soon half an hour goes past, then an hour, and then it's two hours later, and finally Ezra's like, dad, don't you have to be at work?

And dad said, work can wait, we're saving the world right now.

My dad didn't really like video games.

He didn't like them, nor was he good at them, but he chose to connect with us there because that's where we were.

He chose to speak our language, even though he didn't really like it.

Now that he's been gone for eight years, I wish that we could make more of those memories with my kids and with us.

And as a mother now, I draw from those experiences as much as I can.

Whenever my kids ask me to play Fortnite or Minecraft with them, it doesn't matter how busy I am, I never regret sitting down and playing with them.

Video games have surprised me in so many ways.

From schools creating a sense of belonging for kids who wouldn't otherwise have that, to teaching them skills for their lives that they will use for the rest of their lives.