I was thinking today about some of the things that have led me to be who I am, where I am and what I do: It all comes down to my parents.

Just talking about what I do: I work for a software development company. So, how did my parents affect me to form what I do for work?

Well, my fondest memories growing up are ones where my parents played a computer game with me. I remember on the Commodore Vic-20, my parents joining in and playing a text-based adventure game with me. I remember on the Amiga and perhaps the PC, my parents playing the Monkey Island adventures with me.

What I think this did, is gave me attention, something kids obviously need. I don’t have fond memories of playing those games by myself, alone, I remember and have fond thoughts about my mum and dad being there with me. Additionally, my parents often watched motorsport with me, they often woke me up at 3am so I could watch the races in Japan or Australia… How interesting is that?

I believe just those few hours my parents spent with me, formed my love of computers, my love of ‘gaming’, helped with my love of motorsport and eventually, they led me to be working on what I am today.

This then made me think about my little brothers. Although I don’t think they share their gaming with my parents, they did have chance to share it with me. I feel guilty really not being there for them anymore, but I’m glad that they might have memories where I was, even if I was just in the room at the time. I’m really pleased that at an age where most kids didn’t have a computer I was able to provide them with upgrades from my old computers while I was attempting to keep the newest and latest in my own machines.

I sometimes wonder if people know just what an effect they have on those around them…