3 Orphaned Sisters Adopted by Different Families Accidentally Meet Again 63 Years Later – Story of the Day

Elizabeth, Ellen, and Emma lost their parents when they were very young and were separated afterward. Elizabeth had given them something so they could eventually meet, but she ultimately lost hope that they would remember until they surprised her.

"You have to keep this safe," Elizabeth told her sisters, Ellen and Emma, who looked up at her with wide, innocent eyes. "It's where our parents are buried. It's an address. Miss Linda wrote it for me. Keep it, and we'll meet there every year on the day they died."

Elizabeth stood at her parents' graves and remembered the words she told her little sisters all those years ago. She was 69 years old, but she had been six at the time. Meanwhile, Ellen had been four, and Emma was just two years old.

Elizabeth gave her little sisters something important so they would reunite. | Source: Shutterstock

After so many decades of not seeing them or knowing anything about them, she lost hope that they would ever meet each other again.

Elizabeth had given them both a tiny piece of paper, where she wrote the address of the cemetery in Washington D.C. and the names of her parents. Of course, she could barely write anything back then, but their caretaker at the orphanage, Miss Linda, had helped her.

After only a few months, they went to new families, and they lost contact for what seemed like forever. Why hadn't they tried to find her? Did they forget? Elizabeth wondered as she always did while visiting the site.

"Of course, they forgot. They were too young," she said aloud and sighed heavily, touching the tombstone that belonged to her mother, Bertha. Her father, John, was resting by her side, and it was the 63rd anniversary of their death.

A voice called out to her. | Source: Pexels

"Hello?" a voice rang from her left side, and Elizabeth turned to see who had uttered it. A woman was approaching, smiling tentatively at her. "Elizabeth? Bethie?"

Elizabeth's eyes started watering as she recognized the woman who had the same eyes she had stared at in the mirror for years.

"Ellen?" she whispered, and the woman nodded.

What happened next felt natural, although they were more strangers than family now. They hugged tightly, crying in each other's arms.

"I can't believe it! It's been years!" Elizabeth said when they disentangled, wiping her tears. "How did you finally find this place?"

Ellen hesitated at first. "I must admit that I was afraid. My adoptive parents saved everything I brought with me from the orphanage, including the slip of paper you gave me. My new mother told me about having sisters, but when I turned 18, I decided I didn't want to dwell on the past. I didn't want to look for you. I'm sorry."

Elizabeth understood what Ellen meant. | Source: Pexels

"No, I can understand that," Elizabeth said, as she also had a new family, and remembering the past was often too painful.

"But a few months ago, I looked through my old things and found that piece of paper. It was intact. As if something was telling me to come. You had written the exact address and the date, but I didn't expect you to be here," Ellen said and laughed. "I can't believe you're here!"

"I've been coming here on this day since I turned 18. I was waiting for you two," Elizabeth revealed, smiling warmly at her sister.

"So that means that Emma has never come, right?" Ellen wondered, and her big sister nodded.

"She was the youngest. I don't think she remembers anything about that piece of paper," Elizabeth started, but someone interrupted her.

"I remember it. Barely, though," a voice came from behind them, and they both turned to see a third woman, smiling brightly at them and holding her arms at her side.

"Emma?" Elizabeth and Ellen said simultaneously.

Another voice interrupted them. | Source: Pexels

"It's me!" she confirmed, and the sisters ran towards each other to hug their littlest sister tightly.

"Oh my god! I can't believe that you're both here at the same time… for the first time for that matter!" Elizabeth breathed after they separated and had to wipe more of her tears away.

"I didn't think either of you would be here at all! I came on a whim. My children were angry about it," Emma revealed.

"Why?" Ellen wondered.

"Well, I live in London. I got married and have lived there since I was 22," Emma explained, making her sisters raise their eyebrows.

"Then how did you remember?" Elizabeth asked.

"I actually found that piece of paper in my teens. I had it always. But it was smudged. The date was all wrong, and I couldn't make out most of the address. It was a disaster, and I decided to forget about it because I didn't remember what it meant. But I never threw it away for some reason. I didn't remember who gave it to me," Emma began her tale.

"What happened next?" Ellen urged her to continue.

Emma explained how she finally found their gravesite. | Source: Pexels

"I forgot all about it for years. My mother… well, my new mother died recently. But before she did, she told me I had two sisters, and that I should find them. She told me what happened to my parents, although she never knew their name," Emma continued. "Then I had a dream where I remembered your words, Bethie. I started searching the internet, although I'm not good with computers at all. But I found a newspaper archive reporting our parents' accident. It had the date, and I looked up cemeteries in the area. So, here I am!"

Elizabeth smiled at her little sister. "So, you just decided to come?"

"Well, I came back to the U.S. to arrange all my mother's things, and I stayed when she told me about it. Of course, I also had to travel here because my mother lived in Florida. My children were angry because they want me to return to London as soon as possible," Emma added. "But I couldn't. I started worrying that one or the two of you would be waiting for me. I had to come. We promised each other."

"Thank you. Thank you so much for coming! Both of you!" Elizabeth mumbled, her voice breaking once more. And her sisters understood her feelings completely. They had aged, with their own families, and they still managed to reunite despite all that time.

They felt like young women again. | Source: Pexels

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"Of course! We have so much to catch up on!" Ellen cheered, drying her tears and trying to lighten the mood.

"Yes! Let's go get some coffee!" Emma demanded, linking her arms with her big sisters. Together, they hopped to the nearest café and spent hours talking about their lives, their adventures, and they all felt like young ladies again.

What can we learn from this story?

• It's never too late for anything. If you ever think it's too late to do something, remember that these women reunited after 63 years!
• Never lose hope. Elizabeth almost gave up on her sisters, but they surprised her decades after their separation.

Share this story with your friends. It might brighten their day and inspire them.

If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a woman who left a seat for her late son at her wedding, but someone occupied it.

This account is inspired by our reader's story and written by a professional writer. Any resemblance to actual names or locations is purely coincidental. All images are for illustration purposes only. Share your story with us; maybe it will change someone's life. If you would like to share your story, please send it to info@amomama.com.