Together AGAIN

From long-lost family, to friendships and love, three readers share amazing stories of reconnection

- ELLIE FENNELL.

'I FOUND MY LONG-LOST TWIN SISTER'

Jenny Lucas, 76, from Kent, is a retired professional golfer. She was 54 years old when she discovered that she had a twin sister, Helen.

For many years, I considered myself an only child. With cousins around the corner and loving parents, I enjoyed a wonderful childhood in Newcastle. Then, after my dad Syd died when I was 12, I discovered I was adopted. It wasn't something my mum, Connie, wanted to discuss, so for years I just let it lie.

My husband Sam and I eventually did track down my birth mother, Mercia, in 2003. She welcomed us into her home and it was an emotional meeting where I discovered I had a sister called Helen Edwards, who knew nothing of me.

Revelations unfurl

Keen to find Helen, I posted on a website called Genes Reunited. Melanie, an unknown cousin, replied to say that Helen was living in Texas with her husband Dennis and gave me her email address. I drafted a carefully worded message and was ecstatic when she replied.

Our stilted early-days interactions soon became friendly, sharing some of our stories and chatting regularly on the phone.

We discovered our childhoods had been hugely different. In sad contrast to me, Helen had not enjoyed a happy home life with Mercia and her stepfather.

Amazingly, our paths had very nearly crossed many times. We had both spent a lot of time as children swimming in Tynemouth Outdoor Pool, and I'd had surgery in the same hospital where Helen worked as a nurse.

I was delighted when Helen told me she was returning to live in the UK, enabling us to finally meet in 2007, aged 58, at a hotel in Gosforth. It was surreal, with lots of hugs and tears. At this stage, we believed we were half-sisters, Helen having been told her birthday was 18 months after mine.