Reason I went to Phoenix, AZ: To Meet My Nephew

About 3 years ago, my nephew's mother messaged me via social media to let me know that she was contacting me to establish a relationship with my nephew. She said he was having a hard time with having an absent father (my brother), and that his paternal family had nothing to do with him. This was really hard for me. I had recently tried to reach out to my estranged father's family and the furthest the relationship went was gaining "Facebook Friends." It is strange, but I feel like it is no coincidence that when I was struggling with harsh realities (my dad's family wanting little to do with me), that I ended up with someone in my face going through the same exact thing, and feeling the same exact way. I had tried reaching out to my nephew and his mom a few times over the years, with no avail, so I backed away. However, him and his mom were ready to open the door of communication.

I met my nephew 16 years ago, when he was only 2 years old; unfortunately, he was too young at the time to remember the visit. My brother was dating my nephew's mother at the time, and they lived in Pennsylvania. My mother loves to travel, so we drove up to Pennsylvania to visit Lancaster to see the Amish country and went to the Hershey's Theme Park. We made sure to stop by Philadelphia, PA to visit with my 2 oldest brothers who relocated there when they became adults.

When my nephew's mother and my brother's relationship unraveled, she took my nephew and moved back to Arizona (where she is from). I was very shocked when she finally contacted me about 3 years ago. I started writing to my nephew and talking to him on the phone, and telling him about our side of the family. It only felt right, when my husband and I were discussing a vacation/late honeymoon near my nephew's home, to take a day to meet him in person. We met up at a restaurant called "Gordon Biersch" and ate a late lunch. He came with his girlfriend, so it ended up being like a double date.

After lunch, there was a Dave and Buster's nearby, which is an adult arcade center. We decided to hang out for awhile and play some arcade games. I felt like this would be a great way to bond. I know that both my husband and nephew love video games, so it just made sense to take them both somewhere they could enjoy. Below is a photo of them both playing a game together.

I was glad that I could find a game that all four of us could play together. From left to right, shows my husband, myself, my nephew, and my nephew's girlfriend.

I really enjoyed meeting my nephew's girlfriend, but she had to leave early to go to work. This was them having fun together.

My nephew stuck around with us for awhile and we walked around the Westgate Entertainment Center and talked. (I shared the entertainment center here in a previous post if you would like to check it out: https://steemit.com/travel/@bosssarah/travel-in-glendale-arizona)

We drove my nephew back to pick up his car. I couldn't believe how big the sun looked there. I took some photos on our drive.

I hated that the day went by so fast, but I was happy to have met my nephew and show him that I would fly all the way from North Carolina and stop by to spend a day with him. He is now entering his adult life, and he is now 18. He may not have known in his childhood, but I hope he knows now that he has someone on my side of the family who cares.