“You won’t believe it, but I won the door prize. I won a VCR!” my father announced as he walked through the door with his arms wrapped around a big box. He and my mother had just returned from a dinner function that evening.

“What?” I exclaimed, rushing over to him with my brother, ready to open the box for a closer look.

“Uh-uh,” my mother pounced. “Bedtime. You can look at it tomorrow.”

Reluctantly, we went to bed. Tomorrow couldn’t come soon enough. All my brother and I thought about that night was setting up that VCR so we could watch our fill of movies on top of movies.

It was summer and I was just getting into a nice long eight-week holiday from school. There was already plenty to do in my Rock Dundo Park suburban neighborhood where young people resided at almost every house on my block. My brother, my friends and I occupied our days climbing trees, going for long walks, riding our bicycles, and hanging out talking and laughing until the sun set.

But this VCR was going to bring a new dynamic to the holiday. I no longer had to worry about the lone television station on the island (of Barbados) closing off by midnight or enduring shows I had no interest in watching. After my father hooked up the VCR to the television, my brother and I immediately signed up for membership at the video rental store in the shopping complex at the entrance to the Park. As you can guess, we became regulars.

He and I also wasted no time letting everyone on our block know that we had a VCR, and very soon my house became the place to be.

“Listen…you all need to go outside and find something to do,” my mother said to my brother and me after a week of tolerating us and our friends crammed into the living room with our eyes glued to the set. “No movie watching today.”

There was no arguing with her. When I broke the news that movie watching was off limits that day, everyone was just as bummed as me and my brother. But when you’re young, nothing dampens your spirits for long. We got back into our old habits, and it didn’t take us long to learn to balance the old with the new. But having that VCR sure made things better.