There has to be a secret wish shared among all human interest reporters: being the one who gets to write about long-lost relatives finding each other after many years and thousands of miles and overcoming all other kinds of odds. It’s one of the greatest stories out there simply because it not only reflects on a touching moment shared by more than one member of a newly extended family, it reaches out to every reader to reflect on the value of their own relationships.
“What would life be like if I was disowned by my parents or lost touch with a sibling or was alienated from my own children?” we wonder.
In November 2018, Velvet Martin had made contact with a long-lost sister, Bonnie Williamson-Powell, living in Ontario. When she traveled to Edmonton for a long overdue visit with Martin in the summer, I was invited to share the story with St. Albert. Perhaps you remember the photo of the two hugging each other and smiling and crying at the airport. It’s a rare and beautiful sight to see, and I’m still touched by it.
After the story came out, Martin shared it around because she knew that there were still other sisters that she was looking for. Their mother had had an interesting and complicated life and the siblings and half-siblings were separated. One had passed, but there were still others ‘out there’.
Thankfully, the story was shared so far and wide that it eventually landed on the eyes of Helen Murphy, also in Ontario. Plans are now in the works for Martin to travel east for another reunion as her extended family continues its path of expansion.
This is why I write in the first place: helping to change people’s lives for the better. I don’t think that there could be a better calling.
