Essay #1

The Reunion with My Father

There have been many events in my life that have occurred but there is one that I went through that I believed that made who I am today. It was when I met up with my father after four years of not seeing him. Since he left, my life changed, I became a person less motivated, less responsible, and less studious on school. My life was going to be like many other kids who work at a young age to help their families.

            When I turned 15, my mom told me that I was going to move to USA. She said the reason why I was moving was to be with my father. This was something I did not expect. I felt my soul leaving my body, for leaving the place where I grew up in. My mom and two brothers were going to move in two months than after me.

            It was in a hot Saturday morning, when my uncle and I left my home. As I got in the car, I held myself of crying. Wishing my mom would say that I was not moving and to get back with them.  She just hugged me and said that it was the best for us and that we would all reunite in two months.  No matter what she told me. I could not change my mind that I was moving to see a person who I refused to talk to in the last four years.

As we got to the border, I saw the difference of this country from mine. There were two hours left to get to where my father lived.  There were houses everywhere and huge building reflecting the sun’s rays. I sense that there was not freedom like the place where I was coming from.  I froze at the sight of all the wonderful things on the way to father’s house, but there was no way to keep the thought out of my mind that I would see my father after all this time. 

What would I say to him? What would I do when I saw him? Those were the worries pounding in my head. All kinds of crazy things went through my mind. What if he is with someone else?  If he would not want to be with us.  What if he was not the person I expected and turned to be the worst coming.  All this negative thoughts where in my mind, because all the memories I had of him were not so positives.  I was not sure of forgiving him.

It was about 8:00 pm and it was getting dark and cold. My anxiety was growing. Suddenly we got off the freeway. At the moment, something told me that the moment had arrived. I asked my uncle, if we almost got there deducing what the answer was. He parked the car in front of apartment buildings. As I got off the car, I looked up to the sky taking a big breath for what was to come. Across the road, I saw a young lady in front of a big white apartment waiting for us to cross.  When I got closer to her, I recognized her. She was my older sister welcoming and giving me a brief hug. I was struck by how much she had changed, since the last time I saw her.  Then my uncle left saying that he had to drive two more hours to where he lived. She said to come in and went ahead. I walked slowly behind her looking around. The building was so quiet with the lights of each apartments’ door on. It was not what I thought it would be. A big beautiful house like what I saw on my way over here. She went upstairs heading to apartment number twelve.  There was a small object hanging on the brown door with a word saying “welcome” by that time I did not know what it meant.

As she opened the door, I noticed my other two older sisters. I was so timid, when they greeted me. There he was, coming out of one of the rooms. He had that look of tiredness, but he did not show any feeling of happiness. I knew he was like that there was no way he would have changed. I froze up not knowing what to do. My nervous and emotions could not leave my body. I just went to him and spread my arms to hug him with a blissful smile. Inside of me that was what I have been waiting for to hug him. He was thinner than the last time I saw him. He even used glasses what made him look stranger. Still in my mind was the thought of being in front of the person who I did not talk to for four years and who was my father. Then one of my sisters told us to sit down. There were three couches. Each of them were old and from different colors. The living room was too small. There was not enough room. I sat in the smaller couch right in front of the TV looking around. I barely spoke from the strange feeling in this place. They sat on the sofa that was beside of me. Suddenly all was quiet, but eventually they would start asking me questions. I guessed they were giving me time to assimilate all this. All my feelings of anger vanished at the moment. My mind got blocked up.

One of my sisters begun to ask me how our home, my mom, and her friends were. My father was sitting there quiet like waiting for the right moment to ask me questions. This situation put me more nervous. Then he got up and came towards me. He sat downs beside of me and put his hand on my shoulder. He said to me, “I am glad you came, I really missed you.” But then, he came up with a question that I did not expect, “How are you doing in school?” I took a breath about saying the truth or not, but at the end, I knew there was no reason for me to lie or for him to judge me. I told him that I had dropped out of school a year ago. I looked at him waiting for his reaction, but he just gave that look of guiltiness. Then he said that he would help me get back to the school. I blinked in total disbelief of what he had just said. It was the first time in my life that my father supported me. Also he mentioned that I would not have the same life he had for not having an education. Somehow inexplicably all of my resentments towards him were gone. I was hardly holding myself of crying. After two hours of talking, my dad said that it was time to sleep. It was about 10:00 pm, when they went to their rooms. I lay down in one of the couches, thinking that, that night had been the start of a better relationship with my dad.

Since that night, my life turned up in a good way. He persuaded me to get back into school. I graduated from high school, and now I am a college student and all because of him. My relationship with him is not the one I would like to have, but it is the better than nothing. Now I know and understand the reasons why he left us. As an adult, I understand that I should not judge someone for what they did or do, because I do not know the reasons that led him to do it.