A hole in my heart is finally being repaired. I was reunited with my half-sister Lisa last month after 16 years! We have only met twice in my life--once in 1987 for a few hours and once in 1992, again for a few hours. The story about my half-sister and half-brother is a murky one. They are from my father's first marriage. All I know is that I didn't grow up with them and that filled me with great sadness. 
In January of 2007, Lisa and I started writing regularly via email and discovered we had a ton of things in common and raise our children with the same values. Lisa has an 18 year old son Ryan, a 15 year old daughter Allison, and a 4 year old daughter named Sophie. She and my half-brother Robert have an Aveda salon in Denver, CO.
After what felt like an eternity, Lisa and I were finally able to get our families together in South Dakota last month. So much has happened since we started writing and I'm glad we were able to share so much about our lives with each other through the internet since we couldn't see each other in person. Sadly, Lisa's mother had an aneurysm last October and then went into a coma and never came out. Her mother passed away on March 8, the day before Lisa's birthday.
I can't tell you how wonderful it was to give her a hug, meet her family, and just hang out with her for a few days. We got along wonderfully, as did our children. Kai and Sophie were best friends immediately and her older children and husband Justin were such kind, wonderful people to be around.
Lisa and I are tossing plans around about someday moving our families to the Black Hills and buying a big plot of land. Lisa wants to raise alpacas and make sweaters from their wool. She also wants have an orchid greenhouse. I want to have greenhouses and grow herbs so I can make flower essences and herbal remedies. I also want to have massive gardens, especially gardens of medicinal flowers.
Notice any resemblances? Lisa's hubby Justin thinks we look alike. And one cannot miss the striking similarities between Kai and Sophie! In some ways, I feel like Lisa and I are like twins separated at birth (as far as our personalities, interests, etc go). We have so much in common even though we have not grown up with each other or even really had any contact with each other until 2007. Oh, and we are both left-handed but cut with our right hand. Bizarre... It's such a blessing to have been reunited with her!
