Dashira Mendez

Professor Rogal

English 110

February 11, 2020

Have  you ever felt nervous about meeting someone for the first time?Well you are not the only one. The first time I met my dad was very nerve racking because it was my first time meeting him in person and actually talking to him face to face. When I met him for the first time, I was seven years old and was coming from Dominican Republic with my mother and two of my siblings for the first time. You may be wondering why my dad didn’t just make a trip to Dominican Republic to meet me but it wasn’t that easy since he was working hard to be able to send us money and couldn’t really afford a flight.

It was a very hot day in Dominican Republic when we had to leave. I remember being  very nervous and very sad. Nervous because I was getting on a plane for the first time and meeting my dad for the first time as well and sad because I was moving to a whole different  country and leaving my friends, family and beloved neighborhood behind. That day, my mom woke us up very early since we had to get to the Airport on time. I was curious about why we had to be there so early but then my mom explained to me that we had to go through a process before going in that would take some time. On our way to the Airport I started reminiscing about all the good times I had in my neighborhood and just Dominican Republic in general. I got really sad again because I didn’t know how New York was and how school here was. I knew that the journey wasn’t going to be easy and that it was going to be a tough transition from Dominican Republic to New York, especially since I didn’t know the language that is mainly spoken. All I knew were a few words like Hi, How are you, good and bad.

When we got to the Airport , I was very impressed with how big and tall the airplanes were because I had only seen them high up in the air and didn’t know what they looked like close up. While we were waiting to be called on to the plane, I remember being very hungry because of all the good food smells in the air so my mom had to buy me and my brothers some food. While we were eating, I kept thinking about my dad and how he would react when he sees me or what he would do and how would I feel seeing him for the first time.

When we got called up to board the plane, I became excited and sad again. Excited because I was on a plane for the first time but sad because the time to leave the only place I had really known my whole life had come. As the plane took off, a tear rolled down my cheek and I tried to just think about the good thing coming to us but it was really hard for me to do that because all of these memories kept coming back. During the middle of the flight, there started a lot of turbulence which had me really scared since I didn’t know what was happening but my mom tried to play it off telling me and my brother that everything was going to be okay and trying to distract us to get our minds off of thinking about it. As the plane started to descend and all of the lights and the city came into view, my breath was taken away because of how beautiful everything looked and how big everything was.

As we landed, my nerves started to kick in again because I knew I was just minutes away from meeting my dad. My mom told me that I was going to be okay and to stop thinking too much about it. When the time came, I was very surprised with the way my dad looked in person because he looked very different from the pictures that I had seen. My dad met my mom and my siblings first and then met me. I remember him hugging me very tight and kissing my forehead and cheek. I was very happy to finally see my dad and person and to finally feel that fatherly love.

Meeting my dad, changed my life because I realized that things aren’t always complete when there is that one person missing and that we should always look forward to the future and that we shouldn’t get stuck on thinking just about one thing or the things that could’ve been or would’ve been. Also, meeting my dad changed my life because I learned many new things from and with him and I got to explore and do things that I had never before.