Meeting My Sister

As a young only child, I was always drawn to stories of miraculously-found siblings like the ones often featured on soap operas. My mother would always dismiss me, but I kept saying that something like that could happen to me one day.

When my father passed away (I was 15 back then), I got a letter from Social Security saying that I was entitled to a small pension, and that the whole amount was going to be divided into two parts. I asked my mother if the second part was for her, and only then she admitted that I had an eight-months-older half-sister, which she never wanted to talk about, since she was a result of my father’s affair.

My mother gave me all the info she had about the girl: her name, the area she lived in, and her mother’s name. I was so pumped with this news that I told the story to my good friend of 10 years, asking if she thought I should try to meet my sister.

When she listened, her eyes were getting wider and wider, and finally she said: “The girl you’re talking about is my classmate. We’re deskmates.” (In Polish schools, we have double desks for two students to sit in.)

I couldn’t believe my own ears! In the end, I needed some time to build up my courage, but when my friend told me my sister was turning 18, I wrote her a birthday card and asked my friend to pass it on. Afterward, my sister invited me to her birthday party, and this was how we finally met.