At two, my earliest memory was my mom yelling, “I don’t want to see you ever again!” as Dad left. They divorced, and Mom kept me from seeing him. At ten, I begged to visit Dad, but she refused, claiming he didn’t want to see me. When I ran away to see him, she called the police.
As a teenager, I rebelled and moved out at 18. Dad and I stayed in touch by phone, but visits were rare due to our busy lives. At 29, Mom called, wanting to mend our relationship, but she didn’t apologize, so I ended the conversation.
A year later, Dad called urgently, leading me to an amusement park. He wanted to make up for lost time. We spent the day together, and he encouraged me to reconcile with Mom.
Inspired, I called Mom, shared my feelings, and she apologized. We began rebuilding our relationship. I grew closer to Dad and enjoyed spending time with my twin half-siblings, even taking them to the amusement park for a fun day.