One of the most memorable times in my life was meeting my dad. I still remember the day I met him as if it was yesterday. He is one of the nicest people I have met in my life. My mom still gets nervous when I go to meet him. A new chapter in my life has opened up ever since I’ve met him. It's as if I’ve achieved something ever since I’ve met him and it’s as if I'm a new person. Overcoming the fact that I grew up without a father has deeply affected my life.

I had an incredible life before meeting my dad. I still do; and it’s even better with him in it. I was confused at times because I never had a real dad figure in my life. My brother acted as a father figure to me. Since I never had my father in my life I was close with my mom and we grew an extraordinary mother daughter relationship. I moved up to Michigan when I was around seven or eight. We moved up here because most of my family lives up here, and we wanted to be closer to them. My dad wasn’t exactly out of my life, he did pay me every month with child support. Every month he has to pay my mom a certain amount of money to help take care of me. My mom met a man named Wes and they are now married.

The day that I met my dad was August 29, 2015. I was scared, even though the days before I was excited. My mom was the most scared for me though since she hasn’t seen my dad in thirteen years! Before this we did not want to rush into things we wrote letters back and forth. We began to get to know each other, and we found out that we have many things in common. He graduated Michigan College with honors and manages a real estate place. The ride down my mom and I were trying not to get to nerved up about the situation. We had to drive the entire way down to Flint, Michigan; it was a long trip. We were supposed to meet at the local mall down there and go school clothes shopping, and have lunch. When he arrived I remember saying to my mom that I wanted to leave and not do it, because I was nervous. He came up to me and we hugged, and ate lunch at a place called Bar Louie. During the meal we talked, and I learned some more things about him. His mom wanted to come with him but she didn’t want to overwhelm me, since I am shy. I felt guilty and she came over to the mall for a bit and talked, she didn’t want to interrupt his time with me.

After eating we decided to go and shop for school clothes. I was still nervous and didn’t talk to him that much. My mom and he left to go to her car for a while and they said they were going to talk. While they were doing that I was searching for some clothes and at the time I was thinking about how nervous I was. When they came back we purchased the clothes and they surprised me with One Direction tickets to go seem them the same day. I was extremely excited! We shopped for a while, and then it was time to leave for the concert. He could not come to the concert but I still had an extraordinary time.

After meeting him I was thinking about the fact that I just met my dad. I was emotional, because I always thought that he never wanted to meet me, or didn’t want anything to do with me. I feel that it’s important for every girl to have a father figure in their life. I was still excited at the fact that I met him a week after. I was shocked with his reaction when he met me. I thought he wouldn’t be as affected as I was after meeting me. His body language was nervous, and scared.

My life has changed majorily because I now have a father figure in my life. It feels weird having him in my life fully since most of my life has been without him. It doesn’t just change my life it changes my mom’s life also because now I’m not only her kid I’m also my dad’s kid. My mom is still scared for me when I meet my dad because she doesn’t want him to leave my life. She believes that if he leaves my life again it will put me in depression, which I don’t agree with. I am scared that he will leave me, but I doubt he will because he has a kid now and it’s identical to having a job. We still talk once or twice every week, I love having my dad in my life.

This is still one of the most memorable moments in my life. Since it has changed me majorly, I have become a better person. This has made me a better person because it has made me less shy, and it gives me a bigger perspective on things in life. My dad can also give me new advice on things about life and his life. I overcame meeting my dad for the first time by talking to him about what we wrote about in the letters and tried to remember that he is just a normal person. I plan to keep in touch with my dad by talking to him frequently and visit once every month.