Honolulu, (KHON) — Two long-lost sisters who met for the first time in person say their love will continue even after this life.
Jeanette R. Santos searched for her biological father her whole life. He had moved from the mainland U.S. to be stationed in Honolulu and that’s all she knew about him.
“My mother met him … and she finally got pregnant and then went back to the States. And they never communicated no more,” stated Santos.
Santos also always longed for a sister. At 90 years old, her prayers were finally answered when a DNA test from 23andMe revealed she had one.
“My niece told me shortly after they got the results that my brother and Jeanette had the same DNA,” stated Julia Jackson, Santos’s long-lost sister. “She called me and she said, ‘You sit down. I have some news I have to tell you, but you have to be sitting down.’ She said, ‘Do you know that you have a sister?’ Well, that was a real shocker.”
Santos said the first question she wanted to ask her sister was about their father and what kind of person he was.
“It made my life now more complete. I have answers, I know who he was, and I know my sister and her family and that means a lot to me,” stated Santos.
According to Jackson, if their father did know about Santos, he never said anything.
“That’s kind of been a troublesome spot for me because he was a great father,” said Jackson.
Santos was born in Honolulu and raised on the Big Island while Jackson grew up in Colorado. Their respective families were determined to help them reunite until they finally met for the first time in person.
“Absolutely amazing that we finally could touch, we finally could hug, and we’ve had a wonderful, wonderful time really becoming acquainted and getting to really know each other,” expressed Jackson.
The women are now making up for a lifetime they’ve had without each other before having to part ways.
“[Julia’s] gonna be 89 soon. So, we don’t have much time in this world today, but right now what we have, we’re completely happy, even if it’s a short time. It will be with us when we leave this world,” stated Santos.
