finding long lost siblings later in life

Hi, could you please call me back? I am helping a friend research her family history and I think you are connected.

A few months ago, my sister R and I got a confusing message. A super sweet lady was helping her friend find her birth family. I have to admit, I was reluctant to call her back. Because the connection was a hard one to comprehend.

We, as it turns out, have another sister!

Our shared DNA, along with personal details, confirmed that all of us share one father. In my wildest dreams, I wouldn’t have imagined a new sister coming into my world this late in life.

I have always been the oldest, and suddenly, I am a middle ♥.

Sadly, that man has passed on

Her dreams of knowing her father stop here. At least, physically. We recently started communicating via email. Both of us a bit cautious, both of us curious.

Baby steps have turned into a delightful exchange of story as we learn about each other’s lives. What the past 4+ decades have held for us…what is different, and even better, the fun surprises of what is the same!

K and I are suddenly friends, learning about being sisters.

The father that is gone? I am one of the few people left that can tell her of his quirks and charms and struggles. That can show her pictures as she might search his face for her own.

She can finally begin to have closure on a very personal story.

We are comfortable in the present

There is no pressure from either side to do or be or say anything particular. Each of us is sensitive to the other’s unique perspective. And we grow increasingly excited for the day to come where we meet in person.

We have agreed that it doesn’t matter how we came together, but it does matter that we did.

God isn’t surprised by this turn of events, and things don’t happen without a reason.

Perhaps for us, these new sisters, healing and hope are enough. We think so.

After all, we are not responsible for the choices of another. This is just a surprising side blessing.

This beautiful woman is the new branch on our family tree.

And that DNA test? Well, I am suddenly blessed with finding the answers to piece together a wild story that our own father always searched for.

He isn’t here to see the results, but in his memory, I continue to put the puzzle together. (Remember the friend helping K find her father? She also, graciously, helped me to find the answers I’d fruitlessly searched for).

I gained a new uncle last week too. He just happens to have the best laugh I’ve ever heard.

Not unlike his own biological brother he never knew of!

You know that story, If You Give A Mouse A Cookie? Maybe it could lend itself to this story.

If You Give A Person A DNA Test, You Might Just Have More Family To Go With It ♥.