I like the idea and it's a decent start for a first project, but it could definitely use some polish both on the text and the code. Some interface issues right off the bat - the nav/character pane is on top of the left half of the main text, not to the side. It looks like the overlap goes away in full screen mode, but comes back if switching back to windowed. Also, the Return button on the stat screen throws an error.
Minor suggestion: maybe assign "Velma" as the default value of the $name variable, so that the player isn't seeing "$name" before getting to the name prompt?
BTW, Grant is mentioned as "one of your stepbrothers", but there are no others in the family photo. Is that intentional?