November 21, 2009
- Eugene, Oregon
Sisters reunited after 74 years
By KVAL.com Staff and KPIC News
RIDDLE, Ore. -- Angela Reed always wondered about her mother Cora Ann Robinon's family.
Cora Ann, 78, was 4 years old when her mother died in child birth in Arkansas. She and her sisters Matte Mae, 14; Bertha Irene, 10; Ruby, 8; and Helen, 2, were split up and sent to orphanages and adoptive families. That was the last Cora Ann saw of her siblings -- until last week. Reed diligently searched genealogy records for clues, piecing together this irony: Her mother's little sister, Helen, had lived just 10 miles away from Reed in California. "I've been coming back for a visit for the past 25 years to visit my daughter," Robinison said, "and had no idea that she lived right down the street." She doesn't anymore: Helen Bonnell lives in Myrtle Creek, Ore., where the two sisters were reunited last weekend after more than 74 years. "When I called my mother," Reed recalled, "I called her and I said, 'Mother, I want you to sit down,' and I told her that I'd found her sister, and she cried and cried and cried." "I couldn't believe it," Bonnell said. "Still don't." There's still some missing pieces of the puzzle. They're trying to find the other three sisters, and they're not even sure if they're still alive. But for now, Reed has given her mother an early Mother's Day gift: a sister. "It's just something that I had to do," Reed said, "and I know that it's just really going to change these ladies lives, and hopefully they'll be able to spend some time together from here on out." |
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