For New Year’s Eve I decided to make the four hour drive to Las Vegas and meet up with my twin brother.  There were two reasons why I felt the need to meet up with him; first, I hadn’t seen him since my wedding and had been missing him a lot.  Second, I don’t trust my brother alone in casinos; the boy loves to gamble.  I thought maybe if I was there I could distract him from the casino floor and offer other fun ideas we could do while in Vegas.  It worked the first night; we walked the chaotic strip, laughed at the drunks and ended up kicking it at the Rox club in New York New York.  Sure we were spending triple the price on cover charge and drinks, but it still would be cheaper than losing thousands on the casino floor.  Around 2:00am I was spent, I decided to take the shuttle back to my casino.  Of course my brother wanted to stay.  I figured, how much trouble could he get into in such a short time?  Once again, I underestimated Vegas’s pull.  Around 5am that morning I got a phone call from my brother; he had lost his money. I soon realized this was the very reason casinos didn’t build balconies off of their hotel rooms.

I meet up with him later that day; I figured lunch at the Grand Buffet in the MGM might cheer him up.  NOPE.  I even went as far to say, “Look at the bright side Jimi, you stimulated the economy this weekend.” Okay that was lame, but I was lacking when it comes to pick me up ideas.  There was only one thing I could do for him at this point, and no, it wasn’t going to be loaning him money.  I packed my car with his belonging and took him back to California with me.  I thought it would be healthy for him to get his mind off the money and send some quality time with me and our dog JJ.  I thought for sure the adorableness of my dog would put Jimi in a better mind - another attempt failed! 
We drove to Laguna Beach; maybe some fresh air would brighten his mood? I took him for a game of tennis, although he kicked my butt, this didn’t help either.  My last attempt- the Wii, I dusted it off and put in the game RRR TV Party.  I was surprised to see my brother perked up to give it a shot.  He was actually having fun! I couldn’t believe it!  I had to capture this memory on camera.

The last time Jimi and I played a video game together was in high school.  He would bet up to a hundred dollars on a single Blitz game; further proof he was destined to be a gambler.  I decided to remind him of our Punch Out days on the old Nintendo, so I put in the Wii Boxing.  This was the answer I was looking for!  He must’ve been looking for a way to take out his aggression this whole time.  I sat on the couch and watched him play for more than three hours straight. I’m convinced he lost 5 pounds during this time.  He never stopped for a break.  He had so much sweat running down his face it looked like he just ran a marathon.

After that night, my brother felt better. There was finally a smile on his face, a smile I had been waiting for all week.
The next day I drove him to the airport and for the first time I was confident he was going to be okay.  I really think the Wii brightened up his mood.  I love that something simple as a video game can make you forget everyday worries.  It reminded me of the very reason I play games in the first place; escaping reality.  Not only did the Wii change my brothers mood for the better, but it gave me something I didn’t realized I missed so much- my brother and I just like old times-playing videogames together again.

My brother and I at Laguna Beach, California.

My brother playing RRR TV Party.  He is going to kill me for posting this.