How I Met My Biological Dad: Our First Meeting

If you haven’t read the first part of this true story you should go here first.

This part tells what happens a year and a half later. It took a long time for the second chapter to happen because the first bit happened when I was in the U.K. and then I was back in California and then Thailand and then the U.K. again with no breaks or extra money in between. Eventually, I was back in California again, about to permantly move to Bangkok for a job and I thought… if I don’t go visit him now, it’s never gonna happen. So we made a plan together and I flew to Atlanta.

(Yes many things happened in that year and a half like phone calls, emails, Facebook interactions but I’m skipping to the good bit here)

I got to Atlanta on Friday late morning and my biological dad, Scott, picked me up at the airport. It was the first time we’d ever seen each other in real life. The first time we’d ever heard each other’s voices without a phone in between us. We gave each other a big hug and drove out of the airport. There wasn’t really an awkward moment. We small-talked for a bit, then a bit of silence as I saw Atlanta for the first time and he gave me a little tour of the parts of the city on the way to get some lunch. We got some Mexican food and talked and talked.

We talked a lot of course. I can’t remember the exact order of all things but I think next we went to the Botanical Gardens and spent a few hours looking at flowers and trees and sitting on a bench telling each other stories from life and asking each other questions. I learned all about my grandfather and great grand father who were both kind of alcoholic jerks. I’m pretty sure my great grandmother moved from Ohio to NYC when she was 16 and became a flapper prostitute which is kind of awesome. There is a picture of her wearing almost nothing but a feather boa from like the 20's or 30's.

Both of my sisters were hesitant to meet me because they were worried that I might suddenly want to become BFF’s and call them every day. Eventually, they both came around. I had breakfast the second day with my younger sister Whitney and Scott. Whitney was definitely nervous and flustered when we first met but by the end of breakfast everything became normal. We went plant shopping at Lowe’s and I helped pick out a bunch of flowers for a big pot in her apartment.

The shopping at Lowe’s might have been my favorite moment of the whole weekend because it was so normal and so surreal at the same time. I was thinking, wow, I am shopping at Lowes with my family but I have never met my family before but it’s so normal.

We went to a brewery, just Scott and I, and we got pretty drunk which was great. Stories became a little wilder as we become more bold with the beer. We had dinner the second night with my other sister, Lauren, which was great. Lauren and I have talked a lot over emails so it was great to finally meet her. I thought she was going to be in Mexico during my visit but she had her dates wrong. We talked a lot over Thai food and then Scott and I went to a comedy club which was a great time.

The next morning was my last morning. We had breakfast with Lauren and I went over to her place to help put up a shelf. The breakfast was good and then Scott and I did something really touristy which was go to the Coca-Cola museum. It was a really funny and weird thing to do but I guess in Atlanta, you can’t visit without seeing that so now I have. Afterwards, he dropped me at the airport.

All in all, it was a great first meeting. The ice is definitely broken and the water is warming. I wish I could have gotten to see both Lauren and Whitney in the same setting but that never worked out. Next time, I guess. I also look forward to hanging out with Lauren and Whitney without Scott to get to know them better. We need a night together in a bar with many beer so we can break through to deep, inner world of feelings and thoughts.

I’m not sure when the next chapter will happen. Scott and I have regular Facebook interactions but being in different time zones on different sides of the world, it’s a bit challenging and maybe a bit unnecessary. It’s good to know where you cam from, genetically, and I look forward to our next interaction but in the mean time, no need to rush…