Dear Mommy and Daddy (and I guess, my brother and sister),
It's been a while since I've lived under your roof. I now have a family of my own. I come back from work every day to a house where I'm responsible for the upkeep, and though I'm not completely independent of you yet, I am responsible for a lot more things, as I'm now a parent too.
So I'd like to apologise to you, for the years that I spent being addicted to video games.
I'm sorry for the many times you knocked on my door and came into the room, hoping to have a conversation about your day, or my day, only to have me glued to the computer, completely uninterested in anything you had to say. I'm sorry that I only sought you out when I had a problem, when I was in need of something, while I ignored you when I had whatever I wanted.
I'm sorry for all the dinners that you spent with an empty spot at the table because I just wasn't done yet, probably because I decided to start on a new game even though I knew it was almost dinnertime. I'm sorry that you had to come upstairs to personally invite me to dinner; I wouldn't even come downstairs beforehand to help set the table, and I usually wolfed down my food and rushed upstairs. What should've been the only time of the day when we had the whole family together was ruined because I was never there, either physically or in spirit.
I usually wouldn't even help to wash the dishes afterwards. And I'm sorry for that. And all the chores I left undone or half-done because I just couldn't be bothered to do them properly when all I wanted to do was play games, games and more games. You had to remind me every single day, bug me every time I ran upstairs, to mop my room, put away my washed and ironed clothes, tidy my room, help out with cleaning or feeding the cats. You would come home after a hard day at work only to have to cook and wash up, while I did absolutely nothing to help. Your weekends were spent catching up on chores while mine were spent catching up on sleep... and yet more gaming.
You were last on my priority list, and I can never give you back those years I spent throwing away what could've been quality time spent with you. Gaming wasn't just a hobby for me - it turned into a full-blown addiction, and I let it take over all aspects of my life. And for that, I'm sorry. I know now, how it is to feel ignored by someone you love, to want time together only to be constantly rebuffed in favour of pixels on a screen. I wish I'd had the empathy to see things from your point of view before I had to go through it myself.
I know we don't see each other very much anymore now that we lead very separate lives, but I would like to make it up to you, and I hope I have in some way, by the conversations we've had and the (admittedly not enough) time we've spent hanging out. I would like to do more of that, and make things even better than they are now.
I pray I can.
