It was a Christmas miracle 64 years in the making.
For the first time, Janet Anderson met her birth family after being adopted by another family two providences away in Canada.
It all started in October, when the Saskatchewan government mailed Anderson her registration of live birth, according to CBC.
From there, she found her birth mother, Jean Stahl on Facebook. Anderson messaged Stahl’s daughter, Elaine. The two kept in touch before Elaine invited Anderson over for Christmas.
A small wrinkle presented itself when Anderson’s flight was cancelled. The next flight out would be two days later. It didn’t matter to Anderson, who was determined to meet her biological family by any means. She wound up taking a different flight, to a ferry and finally a car ride.
Exactly 64 years and two days after being adopted, Anderson and Elaine were reunited.
"It was just such a relief and so exciting to finally meet her," Elaine said. "For me, it was only two months. For her, it was 64 years waiting.”
Jean was 25 years old when she had Anderson at a home for unwed mothers, Salvation Army Grace Haven.
Without telling the birth father, Jean put Anderson up for adoption.
Jean went on to marry and have four children and says she is still shocked by the reunion.
Anderson and Elaine found out they certain aspects of their lives parallel each other. As teenagers both were lifeguards. As young adults, they both spent summers in Penticton, B.C.
Anderson says she hopes her story encourages anyone still looking for their biological family to never give up.
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