Anyone with siblings knows what it means to have a close bond with them. No matter if y’all had fights, arguments or didn’t get along at one point, no one can understand you the way your siblings can.
Thanks to the great people of the internet, a group of brothers and sisters that had been separated their whole lives were reunited. They are now enjoying the bond of siblinghood.
Christina Housel was adopted and didn’t have much knowledge about her birth mother or any of her other family members.
Once she had her own children, she wanted to learn more about her family and where she came from. She went online to search for information about her mom or possible siblings, and suddenly, she was in for the surprise of her life.
Christina discovered that she had a brother named Lyles James Berryman. Berryman was somewhat skeptical about meeting her at first but she finally convinced him. She was very excited and traveled from Washington all the way to Arizona to meet him for the first time. When they got together, it was very clear that they were related.
They shared stories about their childhoods and compared pictures and features. It’s hard to deny what they look like. They are definitely brother and sister.
But what happened next would come as even more of a shock to Christina. Although she had never lived with their biological mother, Lyles had. Their mother passed away when he was young.
Before that, she had told Lyles that he had two sisters – twins – but she didn’t know where they lived.
Even though Lyles was young, he remembered the story. Then, when he told Christina, they knew it was time to look for their sisters.
That led them to posting a picture on Facebook together. On two separate sheets of paper, they wrote:
“Just met after 30 years. Still looking for twin girls born in Florida around May or April 1992–94.”
Within a short amount of time, twin sisters named Lauren Rutherford and Ashley Bo found the picture and wondered if they could be the girls these two siblings were looking for.
Once they took a good look at the strangers’ faces, they realized that they really did look like them. That led them to contact the brother and sister and arranging for a time to meet up. They booked plane tickets and packed their bags almost immediately because they were that excited to meet their potential long-lost brother and sister.
When the four siblings finally got together, they confirmed that they were actually related.
After that, they just spent a lot of time catching up. Can you imagine not knowing you had three siblings for 30 years and then getting to meet them all? They swapped photos, and Christina even got to see a picture of her mother for the first time. It was an overwhelming and emotional experience for all involved.
Perhaps even more exciting was the fact that they had all shared some similar experiences. Christina was a member of the Navy, and Lyles joined the Army and had a tour in Iraq. Plus, Ashely’s husband is an active member of the Air Force. Their military bonds brought this family even closer together.
While they may have missed out on each other’s company growing up, hopefully, they will now stay in contact so they can be a part of each other’s lives.
This is a beautiful story of just how strong the bonds of the family really are.
