My dad and I have a very good relationship. This relationship only solidified later in life when I got older. That’s because my dad used to work allot. I almost have no memories of him from my early childhood. I don't mind, my childhood was fine.

The one thing I do remember vividly is the rare event that he would bring me to bed. I distinctly remember his beard stinging my cheek when he kissed me goodnight.

He used to work at the University in Rotterdam and loved to program on the computers there in his free time. He also wrote articles for Apple Magazines in the United States. He was very successful with that.

My dad in 1980, I wasn't even born.

One day an opportunity arrived for him that was too good to pass. My dad was going into business. He was going to sell Macintosh computers and because of this, we had computers at home earlier than most people. The computer I used to play with was the Macintosh Plus.

Released, January 16, 1986

I was 5 years old and drawn to that machine like you wouldn’t believe. I could spend hours creating ‘art’ in the paint program and I also played a ton of games. Two of my favorite games were The Ancient Art of War and Dark Castle.

The godfather of photoshop.

dark castle, released 1986.

The Ancient Art of War, released 1984.

Recently I was cleaning up and I found the original diskettes of my childhood. I think that’s insanely cool. The same diskettes little old me used to handle:

Microdiskettes

My holiday victory!

Once every year we would go on summer holiday in the Netherlands to a place called Ouddorp (old village). My parents would rent a cabin and we would stay there for two weeks. We brought the Macintosh Plus with us. By now I had gotten very good at Dark Castle but had never beaten it.

One day I had the perfect run. I cleared the Trouble, Fireball, and Shield rooms without losing a life and was on my way to face the Black Knight himself. I had reached the throne room only two times before and failed but this time I had 3 lives!

The final battle against the Black Knight

The way to beat the Black Knight is to pull 5 switches on the wall while dodging allot of stuff being thrown at you. With sweat on my little forehead I faced the Dark Knight once more and one by one I pulled the switches. When I pulled that final switch, the Black Knight fell down his thrown. I had won!

My character started to dance on the screen and so was I next to that Macintosh Plus.

27 years later

I’m 32 now and my dad is 66. Not long ago I had a conversation with my dad about that specific holiday. He told me a story that made me smile.

He said to me, ‘I remember very well the day you beat Dark Castle, you were 5, and I couldn’t believe it. I must have spent every night, after you went to bed, trying to beat that game. Whatever I tried I could not do it. It was the first time I realized I was getting older’.

My dad was 39. I guess I have 7 good years left.

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