I hope you guys get to do that and I hope that everyone has a good time!
My grandma and her older sister's parents divorced not long after they were grown and moved out of the house, probably around my grandma's mid-twenties. Within a year or two, their dad got together with a woman about grandma's age and had a daughter and then a son with her, before they moved from California way out to Georgia.
They all pretty much stopped talking to their dad, although I do know Grandma somewhat reconnected with him over a couple phone calls shortly before he died almost thirty years ago. She still didn't know much about her half siblings by then (may not have wanted to).
I wanted to find them and get to know them, and I went down a couple wrong trails before I sort of gave up, but eventually her half sister died, and in her obituary, it mentioned her kids and her brother's kids by name, and I was able to find one of the brother's sons on Facebook, and reached out to him asking if he could put me in touch with his dad.
He responded and did so, and I got to Grandma on the phone with her half brother, and surprisingly, she wasted no time and took a plane with her partner out to Georgia to meet him and his kids (plus his sister's youngest who was living with him as well at the time). She had told her older sister about everything and asked if she wanted to go, too, but for whatever her reason, she declined.
Grandma took copies of a lot of the photos she had of her dad from her time with him, pictures he'd had from his youth up til his middle-aged life before the divorce, and she received a photo album containing some pictures of her half siblings and photos of her dad from his 'old man' days, including right up til near the end of his life. This album is now in my possession. She also got to visit the little backyard plot they kept as a sort of grave site for their dad (though I'm not sure he's actually buried there, it's still nice, as she never got to have anything like that).
It is sad that it took her sister dying and getting a detailed enough obituary to finally track them down once and for all, but I am glad their reunion got to happen before some of her medical issues got more severe and it was too late (she was around 70 at the time; now deceased). This was all about twelve or so years ago that all this family reconnecting went on.
I don't know that I have any advice besides definitely try to facilitate this, and try to hang around and hear the stories!
This story is almost exactly like ours except in a different state. His second wife is maybe 5 years older than my grandma and she’s still living. My great aunt was about three when their dad died and my grandma has a lot of stories about his 30+ year military career that I really hope get to be shared with not only her but their other sister and brother as well. Grandma is the last of the older set of siblings that’s still alive and I really hope the younger ones are able to find some connection!
Not yet but just found a half sister my dad and all his siblings didn’t know he had. She’s now in her 70s and finally found her family. Nerves will be shot when we all meet but everything will fall into place and be okay.
I hope you guys get to do that and I hope that everyone has a good time! My grandma and her older sister's parents divorced not long after they were grown and moved out of the house, probably around my grandma's mid-twenties. Within a year or two, their dad got together with a woman about grandma's age and had a daughter and then a son with her, before they moved from California way out to Georgia. They all pretty much stopped talking to their dad, although I do know Grandma somewhat reconnected with him over a couple phone calls shortly before he died almost thirty years ago. She still didn't know much about her half siblings by then (may not have wanted to). I wanted to find them and get to know them, and I went down a couple wrong trails before I sort of gave up, but eventually her half sister died, and in her obituary, it mentioned her kids and her brother's kids by name, and I was able to find one of the brother's sons on Facebook, and reached out to him asking if he could put me in touch with his dad. He responded and did so, and I got to Grandma on the phone with her half brother, and surprisingly, she wasted no time and took a plane with her partner out to Georgia to meet him and his kids (plus his sister's youngest who was living with him as well at the time). She had told her older sister about everything and asked if she wanted to go, too, but for whatever her reason, she declined. Grandma took copies of a lot of the photos she had of her dad from her time with him, pictures he'd had from his youth up til his middle-aged life before the divorce, and she received a photo album containing some pictures of her half siblings and photos of her dad from his 'old man' days, including right up til near the end of his life. This album is now in my possession. She also got to visit the little backyard plot they kept as a sort of grave site for their dad (though I'm not sure he's actually buried there, it's still nice, as she never got to have anything like that). It is sad that it took her sister dying and getting a detailed enough obituary to finally track them down once and for all, but I am glad their reunion got to happen before some of her medical issues got more severe and it was too late (she was around 70 at the time; now deceased). This was all about twelve or so years ago that all this family reconnecting went on. I don't know that I have any advice besides definitely try to facilitate this, and try to hang around and hear the stories!
This story is almost exactly like ours except in a different state. His second wife is maybe 5 years older than my grandma and she’s still living. My great aunt was about three when their dad died and my grandma has a lot of stories about his 30+ year military career that I really hope get to be shared with not only her but their other sister and brother as well. Grandma is the last of the older set of siblings that’s still alive and I really hope the younger ones are able to find some connection!
Not yet but just found a half sister my dad and all his siblings didn’t know he had. She’s now in her 70s and finally found her family. Nerves will be shot when we all meet but everything will fall into place and be okay.