To start off, I'm just going to say that my mom and my dad didn’t live together when I was younger. I would live with my mom for 4 days a week and visit my dad for the other 3. Then, when I started school I would only see him every couple months. I don’t remember a whole lot about my dad, but I do remember he was a straightforward person. He didn’t like that I had a wild imagination growing up, and he was the one who ruined my Christmas by telling me Santa wasn’t real and telling me where my presents came from. My mom from then only took me if I wanted to go, but he wasn’t all bad. I remember times he took me to the zoo, the movies, and one time when I was little I remember I had a nightmare about something and he was there for me. Now this story started during my 8th birthday when I was home, and my dad called my mom to ask me if I wanted to go visit him for a week. I don’t even remember what I did during that week. I just remember watching Youtube and calling my mom everyday since I still had her, my step dad, and my little brother at home. After that week I just went home.

A few months passed by and my mom told me that my dad went on a vacation to Mexico for two months. I didn’t really think much of it at first so I just waited those two months. Two months went by, and I asked my mom if my dad came back from vacation. She told me not yet, so I kept waiting. When I was around the age of 10 I realized that he wasn't coming back, and I was angry at him. From then on, I just focused on what was right in front of me, my mom, brother, sister, and my step dad.

When I was eleven I came back from school, and my parents wanted to talk to me. They told me that my dad reached out to my mom and asked if I wanted to talk to him. At first, I was suspicious if this was even him, but then for a while I talked to him on my mom's phone. I felt relieved when he mentioned my other side of the family because then I knew it was him. He then told me that he stayed in Mexico because of Covid. I still talk to him regularly now, and I know more about him. But, recently when I was talking to my mom, I told her that my dad said he stayed in Mexico because of Covid. She told me that he was deported. She thinks this because when he moved he didn’t tell us for two months. She thinks that he didn’t tell us anything because of legal problems.. But there was one good thing from him leaving, it made me realize something very important. I already had an amazing family right in front of me that I live with. I have my mom, my little brother, little sister, and my step dad who now I consider more of a dad than my real dad. And I know they will always be there for me.

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