Set Depth at 350 Feet

Posted on September 9, 2014

“Sonar contact bearing 010. Orders Captain?”

Like a familiar smell that triggers a distant memory those words plunge me back in time. Huddled around a small 14″ color TV hooked up to the 5″ floppy disk drive and in turn to the keyboard, we sat mesmerized. We were guiding our Seawolf class submarine loaded with Harpoon and Tomahawk missiles and a full complement of Mark 48 torpedoes into enemy waters. It was dangerous and required complete concentration. A single misguided command, or worse, a wrong keystroke and we were headed to the bottom. Here we sat side by side for hours at a time; father and  10 year old son shoulder to shoulder searching the ocean for enemy targets.

I’m certain that when author Tom Clancey wrote his novel Red Storm Rising he didn’t have my son and me in mind.  I don’t know if he had envisioned a Commodore 64 based video game  built around his story either. Regardless, this game was the source of endless hours of fun for us.

I can still see us laying on our bellies or sitting cross-legged on Aaron’s bedroom floor while staring intently at the TV screen. I remember us being hunched over the computer when it sat on the desk in our dining room . We peered into that screen like it was going to talk back to us at any moment. We were entranced by a different world.

Over the years I’ve had the opportunity to play several video games with my son . Some I liked, some I tolerated, and some I won’t play again. Red Storm Rising however, is different. This game holds a very special place in my heart.

It wasn’t so much the game itself, though it was full of excitement, tension, and moments of sheer panic. It was mostly that we were spending time together and having fun at it. The game controls were complex enough that we had to divide the responsibilities between us. Without knowing it at the time we were having to depend on one another in order to stay safe in those hostile waters. Both of us were busy with our respective duties and yet had to work together to accomplish the mission.

Here in open waters it was more like two friends playing together than it was me being the dad and Aaron being the son. There was no strain in the relationship; just a simple ease we had together as we spent the time.  We would laugh ourselves silly when we couldn’t keep the sub from being sunk . Oh, we would try frantically to keep her afloat, but to no avail. Then we would look at each other with those questioning eyes and eager faces that said,

“Let’s do it again!”  And off we would go on a new mission.

Those years are gone now. The game for the most part is ancient history. What isn’t gone is the ease we still have when we are together. I’m grateful for that. All that time spent on his bedroom floor has helped pave the way for our relationship today.

Aaron is a grown man now with a wife and baby daughter. Yet in spite of all our current adult responsibilities and life challenges there’s still that little twinkle that comes into our eyes when we hear,

“Sonar contact. Orders Captain?”

“Son… set depth at 350 feet,”

What’s a favorite time you’ve spent with your children?