Reunited & IT FEELS SO GOOD!

Three readers share their amazing stories of reconnection.

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

For many years, I considered myself an only child. With cousins living just around the corner and loving parents, I had a wonderful childhood in Newcastle. Then, soon 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 tracked 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.

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

Our stilted early interactions soon became friendly, sharing stories and chatting regularly on the phone. We discovered our childhoods had been hugely different. In contrast to me, Helen had not enjoyed a happy home life with Mercia and her stepfather.

Amazingly, our paths had almost 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.