For 33 years I thought I had two older sisters and a brother while my sister Thuy from Vietnam did not even know her father's name or anything about our family. After seven years of research and DNA tests, Thuy and her husband Mike found me and asked me to do a DNA test. Three months before this, my wife @laurabanfield had bought us DNA tests for Christmas from 23andme.com which we had not got around to using.
As soon as Thuy contacted me, I thought she was my sister. Oddly enough, the thought was more like I remembered something I had forgot long ago rather than learning something new. I sent the DNA test in right away.
Four weeks later we matched 21% which is a half sibling having one parent our father in common and the mother different. We talked on the phone for the first time a few days later. Thuy found the first available time she had off of her business and where her husband Mike had off of work to come visit where our father's family is from in Farmington Michigan.
In yesterday's post at https://busy.org/family/@jerrybanfield/meeting-my-sister-from-vietnam-in-detroit-day-1 I shared the day 1 of the journey here including my spiritual experience on the plane flight to Detroit and meeting @kenmelendez near the airport at https://steemit.com/steem/@kenmelendez/sjv4q4ch.
Today Thuy and I finally got to meet in person! The picture above is our first photos together uptown in Farmington, Michigan. We were planning to meet later in the day because I was having lunch with my cousin Alex beforehand at http://www.chivekitchen.com/ which is 100% vegan!
Two years of eating vegan left me interested in trying the vegan hot dog!
I forgot to get a picture of the salad before I finished it!
Alex took this picture of me sitting at the table which I thought looked artistic!
Just after Alex and I finished lunch, I got a message from Thuy saying she was there just across the street from us a few hours early to make sure they found it! We walked over and met her!
Thuy and Mike bought flowers for our Aunt Kathy which turned out to be our grandmother's favorite flowers. We then went over to Starbucks and talked for a few hours until Kathy met us!
We shared stories of our lives and childhood along with many hugs! From Starbucks we went down the street to the cemetery where grandma and grandpa are buried. When Thuy and I hugged there the experience reminded me of a soul bonding described in Miracles Happen: The Transformational Healing Power of Past-Life Memories by Brian L. Weiss and Amy E. Weiss. Our family's souls felt close to us and the energy of our bodies felt to be one without boundaries. During what was probably a twenty minute huge at the graveside, I managed to step on Thuy's foot several times to keep things down to earth. We hugged long enough in one position for my hand to start falling asleep.
After the cemetery, Thuy, Kathy, Mike, and I drove by the houses our family lived in and met Alex for dinner at http://www.buddyspizza.com/. With eating mostly a whole plant food diet consisting of about half raw fruits and vegetables with the other half of nuts, beans, and whole grains from the book How Not To Die, I was afraid that my options would be limited. Alex and Kathy reassured me that they made vegan pizza which I would like. As soon as I opened the menu I realized the eating would be great and started with what turned out to be a massive kale salad! I ate half of it without even putting on dressing on because I was so hungry!
Even with eating half the salad, I also ate the entire vegan four square pizza with pineapple, spinach, artichoke, roasted garlic, red peppers, and tomatoes.
Thuy, Alex, Kathy, Mike, and I enjoyed memorable dinner conversation in helping each other learn the family stories we did not know such as telling Thuy about our father's life and Thuy sharing about her childhood in Vietnam, coming to the USA, meeting Mike, raising her family, and owning her own business.
Thuy said she has another half brother in Vietnam according to https://www.familytreedna.com/ where I have not yet taken a test. Our guess is that he is on our father's side rather than her mother's because of the birthdays being so close. Over the last few weeks I had wondered several times if Thuy was the only one and my thought was that there was still probably a brother in Vietnam.
I will take the DNA test on https://www.familytreedna.com/ soon to see if I have any more siblings that I have not met yet!
When we finished dinner, we went to the race track at Northville Downs where our grandfather, father, and uncles spent many years of their lives racing horses. Dad told us hundreds of stories from that race track from winning $10,000 in a day there betting horses starting with only a few dollars to winning several races as a driver in one day to meeting my mother there. Apparently my birth ended his ability to win a horse race with his final win being the night before I was born 😃
While I generally avoid gambling after what was probably thousands of hours playing poker online in college and many trips to the casino after that, I bet a couple of horse races winning a net of $1.80 with one horse finishing third after I bet to win, place, or show. The picture above shows the last horse I bet coming in close to the back. The difference I noticed today in betting these horses was that without a sense of self in the bet and a desire to get high off of the win, placing a bet on the horses was devoid of emotion where I cared little about whether the horse I bet actually won.
We left the race track at about nine and went back to Farmington to say goodnight. Kathy intended to go into Starbucks to get a coffee quickly before the ride home but our plans changed as we walked by Coldstone where I thought we could stop in to see if there were any vegan options. It turns out a dairy free watermelon and lemon sorbet were available which led to the following desert.
This day leaves me with a clear message that I cannot comprehend all the possible opportunities for love and joy in the future that may be available to me if I am open for them. I am grateful I welcomed this experience because it is as helpful for me as for Thuy who after over twenty years of marriage to her husband finally was able to introduce him to her family for the first time today. For me, what a miracle to have a missing family member finally reconnected and the chance to just begin our earthly journey in this life together now!
What a great reminder today to love and be grateful for the people that are here! We have two more full days left on our visit here and intend to have more after we fly back to our homes on opposite sides of the country on Tuesday!
Thank you very much for sharing our journey with us! We hope this is helpful for you today because we know many more of us are separated from families or struggling to find gratitude for the ones we have or feeling like we are alone when really none of us is ever alone.
While we might be in the dark sometimes and we may endure hell for years among those that think they do not love us, we always will be reunited with our loved ones whether in this life and/or in the hereafter. Dad and his parents died without ever meeting Thuy in the flesh while today being present fully in spirit.
Love,
Jerry Banfield
She should join steemit as well :D
This is a great story Jerry! It might inspire others to find long lost family!
I read your last post about this meeting, that story was so moving and it really touched my tears. Now I'm so happy to see beautiful smiles on your faces! Present moment is a wonderful moment!!
@livvu thank you for witnessing our story!
Amazing story! You did a really good job on this post. Congratulations on meeting your family. :)
Thank you I needed a lot of courage to share!
Yes and you gave a lot of details. Hopefully you helped out other people. I would like to do the DNA test someday and meet more of my mitochondrial DNA twins or get one of my twins to take it. lol People think you get half of your DNA from both parents but that is kind of wrong. You get half of your regular DNA from both parents but you get 100% of your mitochondrial DNA from your mother.
You post a lot of great Steemit stuff on here but this series was on of the best personal ones I've ever seen on Steemit. I don't think the earnings you got from this post reflects its true value but that is the case with lot of posts on Steemit.
we are living in a small world!
amazing story man
Looks really great! Feel free to check my posts as well... nice food included, too! Best wishes from Germany. Upvote & Follow!
great story... bestt..
Happy reunion, Jerry!
Congratulation sir @jerrybanfield. Very happy when see this moment. I am happy for you meet them. God bless you all. Thanks for sharing us.
@kbsrelation you're welcome thank you for being the first to comment!
You're welcome sir, i appreciate it. But the most important thing not first comment sir, I very happy because you hava take a long time to meet them. So finally meet. I'm not lucky then you. Because my two sister was dissapear when tsunami 2014. Maybe when i happy see the others when meet family, i am being lucky too. I hope. Amin
I am sorry about your sisters and I appreciate you sharing about them here.
Maybe some times sir. I lost them for 14 years. I am still hope they are come one day, or i must let them gracefully that they back to their Creator.
You have a Vietnamese sister?! Wow.
This is very touching, I’m happy for both of you to have finally met one another.
What a special day for you and your sister.
So happy for you both and I wish you both a close and happy relationship that you missed on for so many years.
Love the pictures of the two of you and your sister really, really looks happy.
Good luck on your journey of finding your other siblings. All the best @jerrybanfield and I bet you will introduce your sister to Steemit. It would be so great to have her here with us.
@joalvarez thank you I hope she will join Steem!
You are awesome..
My inspiration my teacher 😍
Wish you always be happy in your life with your Family 💜
It is amazing that after all this time you were finally able to not only connect with your sister via a phone call, but actually able to meet her in person. This must be a very emotional time for you and the family. I'm sure you have a million things to discuss.
Jason thank you for following the story and commenting! You are right I do have so much to discuss and it had been fun to figure out how to share the story here!
I’m sure it’s been a rollercoaster of emotions over the past little while. I can only imagine how great an experience that is, meeting your sister after all these years. Cherish every moment, because at the end of the day, family is what matters the most
You seem to have finally found that work-life balance you needed. Enjoy. :)
Sweet union
Happy reunion
wow, do you have Vietnamese sisters? I'm happy for that. Congratulations and your sister reunited. You should have a trip to visit Vietnam in the future.
Congratulations @jerrybanfield. I am so so so happy for you. This must be a historic meeting, and of course the resemblance is there!
@eurogee of @euronation community
I love your love with your sister.🗽
This is a diamond for you that you have a good sister.
I have also my younger sister, when I see your love with your younger sister I am heart fully respecting to you as a good person.
Always keep in touch with your sister.
Take Care.
Bless you.
Thank you @aiman!
Most welcome my friend.
Bless you.
What an awesome post man :)
Thank you Lou!
Wowww amazing story sir @jerrybanfield... I really very exited to read your post and as I read this story my eyes start tears of happiness for you to met with each other after a long period even that you didn't met in your life. It was very surprising for me that how nicely you find each other.
Sir my best wishes always with you.
Be unite for the rest of your life. Thanks for sharing such a beautiful story.
Sir I was miss your first day post , now I will read it too because it is very interesting post for me.
Thanks
Jerry this is a great follow up to your previous post. Very uplifting!. I'm so happy that you could connect this missing piece to your life. God has mysterious ways of showing his love.
Some of the darkest periods in my life were exactly the times God's grace was with me the most and each of those experiences have led me to freedom and life I am now able to live. I've been shown love beyond what I deserve and I've learned that one secret to life is to always be grateful for all that we have been given;even the difficult times. They become the spring boards onto which we are able to be propelled to our next level in life.
I am waiting to see her as a steemian. By the way, i think you are enjoying this moment. Because it is a blood relation matter.
Have a nice meet...
Happy family
lovely write up sir, i came in contact with your video on YouTube and its proven that you are indeed very good, i am new on steemit and really will want you to be my mentor because i know you will add great value to me @zodo
You are all happy :)
This is a really beautiful miracle! It's amazing how everything is coming together. I'm sure you have a lot of catching up to do :D @jerrybanfield
That's fantastic Jerry, must be incredibly exciting for you! Also, I recently discovered your Steemit videos on Youtube: the info you give out is really precious and valuable. Thanks for all the support you give not only to the platform, but also to your followers! Have a great day :D
That's fantastic Jerry, must be incredibly exciting for you! Also, I recently discovered your Steemit videos on Youtube: the info you give out is really precious and valuable. Thanks for all the support you give not only to the platform, but also to your followers! Have a great day :D
What an amazing story and you must be so happy now that you have met your sister.
@jerrybanfield impressive story i hope all turns out well with finding out if you have that half brother good lucl
You continue to inspire and touch our hearts, Jerry. I feel a bit sad about my three much younger half-sisters who live far away on the other side of the planet. I miss them so much.
That's so awesome man! I'm really happy for you! It must be like a love bomb has gone off or something.
Now the big question is when are you going to Vietnam? Oh man, you would be in for the treat of your life if you could visit your family out there.
I don't know if you're familiar with Kyle Le Dot Net on youtube, but he's got some amazing videos of tracking down long-lost family members in Vietnam and reuniting families that were separated by the war. Look for his older videos from when he was still living in Vietnam.
Nice story and you have great family
Life always has surprises. I hope you can visit Vietnam someday. I m willing to host you. Actually, I host a lot of foreign friends from all over the world. We contact by couchsurfing
It is beautiful to share with your family congratulations success
That's awesome Jerry. Fantastic post!
Congratulations!! Looks u had very nice father