By Travis Campbell

Talon staff writer

As the holidays rush rapidly upon us, I find myself not thinking about Christmas gifts or decorations, but about the day I met my father one year ago.

We, as teenagers don’t always appreciate our parents and show them the respect that they deserve. It’s not that we don’t love them, but the fact that it’s our nature. We tend to be hateful sometimes.

My mother and father split up when I was two, and I had little communication except for a letter or phone call for twelve years. I never really thought about why they split up or what went wrong. I guess I didn’t really care. I just felt like I was missing something. I was; my father.

My mom and I didn’t talk about it much until one day when I decided to ask her about what happened. She told me that it just didn’t work. I took that for what it was worth and asked her if I could visit my grandfather, whom she was still very close with.

She agreed and the next day we went to his house in Lowrys, South Carolina.

After a few minutes, he mentioned my father coming over the next day. Before I could say anything, my mom asked him if I could stay with them and meet my father the next morning. I was finally going to see my father.

Needless to say, sleeping didn’t come easy that night. Time went by slower than fourth period on a Friday.

The next day I woke up and walked outside to find my grandfather sitting on the pier. A few minutes passed by and a horn blew.

My stomach dropped. I sat still while my grandfather walked to the house to see who it was. I headed toward the house. I stopped, frozen solid. I looked at the man walking toward me with his arms spread.

“Hey son,” he said.

I was speechless. He stepped back and looked at me.

“You’ve grown up,” he said nervously.

We talked for a while and made plans for me to spend the night with him. After that, I went to his house in Hollis Lakes every weekend. I now live with my father and step-mother in York, South Carolina.

We are very close and have a relationship that only he and I understand. He never made excuses of why he didn’t see me. I didn’t care, I finally knew who my father was.

On Dec. 30th of this year, my father and I have had a relationship for two years.