Two siblings have come together in Winnipeg for an unlikely holiday family reunion: Their first-ever meeting after spending more than four decades unaware of each other’s existence.
Lisa Wallace and Jennifer Henderson are half-sisters born less than a year apart in the 1970s, but both were complete strangers until this fall.
That’s when Wallace found out through court documents her biological father had divorced a Winnipeg woman in 1991 — Henderson’s mother.
The women’s biological father then gave Wallace the one picture he had of her half-sister, and one of Wallace’s friends then posted the picture on Facebook on her behalf, asking if anyone recognized her. Three weeks later, Wallace heard back.
“It was like an instant connection,” she said. “From the moment we talked the first time via text, it was like, ‘Wow, you’re my sister.’ And she really is.”
The women met Winnipeg’s Richardson Airport on Monday, sharing an embrace on top of the airport’s hug rug.
Henderson, who lives in Leduc, Alta. but still has family in Winnipeg, got the plane tickets after telling her story to an Edmonton radio station for a contest offering free flights to go home for the holidays. She brought along her son, Owen, who said he’s excited to have a new aunt.
“All I ever wanted in my entire life was to have a sister,” Henderson said.
“I’ve had one this whole time and I didn’t know.… It’s an amazing feeling. I can’t describe it any other way.”
The women plan to spend the holidays together, getting to know each other and doing “sister things.” Wallace said that, growing up, they missed out on a lot growing apart, like sleepovers or staying up late to watch a movie.
“I’m super cheesy and it’s really nice that Jen is super cheesy too,” she said. “We’re going to go visit our childhood homes to see where each other grew up. We’re going to I think probably visit each other’s high schools to see where each other went.”
Wallace said next time it’ll be her turn to visit her half-sister in Alberta.
“Right from the start when we connected, it just was like so natural,” Henderson said. “It was just like we’ve really known each other our whole lives, even though we haven’t.”