1984

Matthew got what he asked for on Christmas morning 1984– an Atari 2600.

The first god of the video game revolution was all anyone wanted for Christmas that year.

That gift under the tree seemed to sparkle brighter than all others that snowy cold day in December. He couldn’t wait to plug it into the new television and fight over joysticks with his three brothers.

“Go feed Brandy,” his mother ordered. Matthew didn’t want to put on his boots and coat and run up back to change Brandy’s frozen water dish. The family had a new pet now, one that step-father would allow to sleep inside the house.

He rushed into the basement and filled up a five- gallon bucket from a spicate located next to a wood burning stove. The thought of shooting down rows of aliens as they slowly crawled from the top of the television screen raced through his mind.
There certainly was something special about Christmas 1984.

Having to feed Brandy was such a chore.

She came out of her box shivering. She was a pure mutt. Her ancestors were farm dogs-- dogs that went on hunting expeditions with their owners and chased away coons in the corn fields. In Brady’s days on earth, times had changed and farmland turned into towns.

Dogs had not yet fully integrated into society.

Her brown hair was stiff like a wire brush. Brandy never got a real bath. She stayed tied to her box on a chain all her life.

Sure the four brothers played with their dog from time to time but they were not allowed to let her run loose.

The family lost several dogs over the years– Road Kill! They were mushed by hit and run drivers. It wasn’t worth the risk to allow dogs loose in a small town with only one road going through it and an unlimited speed limit.

In strict households in 1984, pets were not allowed to run freely inside a family’s home. The only alternative was a dog house and a chain.

Matthew felt incredibly sad for Brandy on Christmas morning. He saw other dogs on television who were allowed to live inside and sleep with their families.

“I’m sorry Brandy! You shouldn’t have to sleep outside.”

Because it was Christmas morning Matthew decided to give Brandy a fresh handful of straw from the barn which was turned into a storage shed.

Brandy loved straw.

It kept her warm inside her large wooden dog box.

As both Matthew and Brandy shuffled the straw inside the doghouse the Christmas memory of the new Atari 2600 returned.

His palms rubbed rapidly along the wooden floor of the dog house and bumped into something warm.

Brandy had puppies.

“Merry Christmas, Brandy,” Matthew cheered while scratching the coarse hair on the mutt’s head.

“They are so beautiful, Brandy!”

Brandy ran as fast as she could, chasing after her favorite of the family brothers but was soon jerked into a sudden stop by a thick silver chain.

Matthew stopped, turned around and returned to his dog and rubbed her floppy ears.

“Sorry about the chain!”

“Guess what Brandy? We got an Atari for Christmas this year. I wish you could come inside and see it. But just wait until I tell them about your puppies. Do you mind if I take one and show them?”

“Ruff, Ruff, Yes-- show them for gods sake! We’re freezing out here.”

Brandy whimpered and hung her head low and crawled inside the doorway of her kennel believing that she would be abandoned in the cold yet again.

It was simply too frigid in that dog house with those puppies, especially on Christmas morning.

The Atari never did get plugged in that day.

The kids were too busy playing with their new puppies-- inside a home heated by oak, under a pine tree.

The pups were already several weeks old and their eyes were opened, but nobody ever took the time to visit Brandy inside her X-Box.

It was too cold and difficult changing her water dish when it froze solid at night in the highlands of Appalachia.

Brandy looked like she had Weiner dog in her blood and her tummy already dragged on the ground.