My father left my mom and I when I was just a small child. I did not really know him, the only thing I can even remember from his short time with me was that we would always watch WWE wrestling. As I grew older whenever WWE came on the tv I would break down crying because that was the only memory I had of my father. I would always have to change the channel before I got too upset.

When I was about 12 or 13 I began to realize that all of my friends were huge fans of WWE wrestling. I started to think of this as a sign from above that I needed to try and contact my father. I was scared, so many thoughts rushing through my head, like: "Will he remember me? Will he even want to speak to me? What if he doesn't want anything to do with me?" It wasn't until I was in high school at age fifteen when I decided to bite the bullet and contact my father. I asked my mom for his information and I added him on Facebook. The next thing that happened was like a dream come true and a nightmare all at the same time.

I added my father on Facebook hoping for the perfect reunion. That is not what happened, not even close. I got on Facebook one day and I had a notification that my father had accepted my friend request, but that was about it. There was no heartfelt talk, no catching up, no seeing how I am doing in life, there was just nothing. The most he did was like some of my posts on Facebook and that was about it.

Then came my 16th birthday, this was the one day out of the whole year I wanted to be acknowledged from the man who had a part in my birth. He wrote a status saying happy birthday and it was 16 years ago I was brought into the world, yadda yadda yadda. That was a nice surprise to see that he still remembered my birthday, but that was the last I have heard from him.

The past three years on my birthday I have not heard one word from this man. His new girlfriend has said more to me in the past four years than he ever did. I just thought this little Facebook reunion would be better than it has been, but the truth is, this reunion has been one of the worst experiences of my life. If I could go back in time and save myself the disappointment I would.

It took me 19 years, but I finally realize why my mother kept him from me for all of these years. She did not want me to go through the disappointment I have because of this stupid man who is too wrapped up in his new life to acknowledge his own child. I just hope with this article I can help him realize the world does not revolve around him or his new life, there are things from his past that he needs to acknowledge. I am a person too, and I had to live my life without a father and I have come to the conclusion that when I do get married I will not be able to enjoy many of the wedding traditions. I will not be able to walk down the aisle with my father, I will never have a father-daughter dance, but I am now at peace with the fact these things will never happen because I have a family who loves me and will do anything for me. I don't need an absent father to keep me from pursuing everything I have ever wanted.