Siblings!

One of the surprises that this summer  held for me is the discovery that I have birth siblings back in Maine. It was by happenstance that we found each other. Youngest sister, Shelly, passed away this spring and I saw the obituary that had my name of the woman on my birth certificate on it. (My own MUM was the one that discovered it and called me to take a look. She is just SMOTHERED in awesome sauce, that one!) I contacted Shelly's best friend via FB as she had posted a lovely tribute to Shell. I told her who I was and that I was sorry I never got to meet Shelly. She informed me that I had more brothers and sisters in the area!  

I contacted them all by Facebook and arranged to meet them when I was back in Maine this summer. It was an amazing experience! We met at a restaurant and spent the afternoon looking at family photos and getting to know each other a little. Doris, Dan and Dina have welcomed me (and my Mum) with open arms and are the sweetest folks. It was a bit overwhelming at first since I grew  up in such a small family, just my brother and I, but it's all kinds of wonderful as well. Someone asked me yesterday how many brothers and sisters I had and I said 'three sisters and two brothers' for the first time!

I feel like sister, Shelly, gave me such a gift. I like to think she had a lot to do with us finding our way back together. Life is a funny old thing....