Helen Zolna-Abrams waits impatiently at the arrivals section of Montreal’s Trudeau Airport on Tuesday afternoon. She’s wringing her hands and holding a box of tissues.
“I can’t wait to touch her, to hold her, to feel her… that she’s real,” she blurts out.
A few moments later, a woman bearing a striking resemblance to Zolna-Abrams rounds the corner and emerges into view. Zolna-Abrams knocks on the glass wall to grab her attention before racing off to greet her.
There were overjoyed cries, tears and heartfelt embraces as Zolna-Abrams finally met the sister she never knew she had.
In the early 1960s, Zolna-Abrams and Adonna Jacobs were born 18 months apart at Montreal’s Jewish General Hospital to the same parents. They were given up for adoption to separate families when they were babies.
For more than half a century, the two sisters lived separate lives without knowing the other one existed.
After the death of her adoptive mother in 2004, Zolna-Abrams began a search for any long-lost relatives. When she took a DNA test from Ancestry.com earlier this year, she was surprised by the results.
“Sure enough, I have a full blood sister,” she told CTV Montreal on Tuesday.
Zolna-Abrams connected with her newfound sister, who lives in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., and the two arranged to meet in Montreal.
On Tuesday, the two siblings enjoyed their long-awaited embrace at the airport.
“I’m over-the-moon happy. This is so amazing,” Zolna-Abrams gushed. “It’s like a dream that I haven’t woken up from.”
Jacobs appeared equally as excited about their get-together. She eagerly shared how she planned to build a relationship with the sister she always wanted, but never knew she had.
“We’re going to have a pajama party. We’re going to do each other’s hair. We’re going to do each other’s nails and everything else girls do,” she said.
With a report from CTV Montreal’s Stephane Giroux
