Orphaned Siblings Reunite 80 Years After Parents’ Passing And Refuse To ‘Let Each Other Go’
The wσrld wαrs ripped apart a lot of families. One of these heartwrenching stories belong to the siblings Bill Stewart and Beryl Johnson. They were wrenched apart from one another and now after eighty years, finally reunited…
A Japanese submarine sunk an Australian freighter ship off the coast of Victoria in June of 1942. It wasn’t until April 2019 that marine archeologists discovered the location of the wreck. As important as finding the sunken vessel is to historians, the event proved to be more life-changing to Bill Stewart in particular.
Mr Stewart, now 91 years old, had lost his father, Frank Stewart, in the sinking. This Sydney man had been living in an orphanage while his father was at sea with his sister when he was given the horrible news. Stewart and his sisters had already lost their mother years earlier and found themselves then orphaned.
Astonishingly, The two children were then separated. While his sister, Beryl, was adopted, Bill was sent to a boys’ home in Adelaide. It was thought the two needed a “clean break” from remaining relatives. “The two of us put our arms around each other and cried our eyes out. I was told to leave the room and I never saw Beryl again.”, Bill said to ABC Net News.
Stewart and his sister tried to find each other through the years. The two had no luck, but they persisted. “The two of us were looking for one another but didn’t get any help from the orphanage,” Bill remembered. Bill eventually moved to Sydney but never gave up his search. “I would go back to Adelaide every year and look for Beryl.”, he continued.
Beryl also looked for her long-lost brother. “I couldn’t find any details of Bill’s whereabouts or where he’d gone, I tried for years … I gave up and started thinking perhaps he’s dєαd, but in my mind, I always thought one day we would find one another,” she said, recalling her hope.
“I cried when I heard Billy was alive,” Beryl recalled when she got the news. The two soon reunited in person. Remembering that emotional day, Beryl said, “I couldn’t get into Bill’s arms quick enough, we just hugged one another, and we couldn’t let each other go.” The siblings began calling each other every day.
“I love him dearly, and it’s been a miracle as far as I’m concerned that we found one another after nearly 80 years,” Beryl stated. “Now that Bill is back in my life, I just don’t want it to ever end.”
Their touching reunion reminds us of the importance and impact of family.
Source: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-07-13/discovery-of-wwii-shipwreck-led-to-family-reunion/101229578
