Bringing Three New Sisters Together
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Well, where do I start... :)
My name is Elaine, and I grew up with one older Sister and no Brothers on the West Coast of Newfoundland. I grew up in a great home with two wonderfully supportive, loving parents. My Sister moved and got married in Ireland several years ago and has been living there raising her three children for close to 15 years. She tries to get home with them all every couple of years, and myself and Dad and Mom have also been over there to visit when we could.
Two years ago, our Mother, Florence, was diagnosed with cervical cancer, stage two. We stayed strong as a family, and got through the chemo and radiation, only to be overjoyed and full of relief when we were told it had gone away. We were so thankful and made sure afterwards Mom was living life to the fullest - it was a huge scare, and we were happy to get through it.
Last January, 2014, just after Christmas, my Mom was complaining of feeling sick, not being able to eat, having no energy, etc. As she had be going to her follow up appointments, we didnt expect for a second anything serious was wrong. Then, things got worse, very quickly, We ended up taking her to the emergency a few times, only for her to be sent home with pain medication and stomach pills. No mention of cancer or anything serious came from any Doctor.
The last time we took her to the hospital, she was finally admitted for extensive testing. By this point, she was unable to eat, but was with us 100% mentally, although she was physically, very weak.
After about a week in hospital, we were finally told that cancer had spread throughout her body. We were told this on a Tuesday evening. She later died four days later, Saturday afternoon.
While trying to deal with this news, I was also trying to get things in order for what we knew was coming. My Mother had matters to settle, and I was going through her emails trying to sort things out, when I came across one in particular. It was about a woman in Halifax, who had been searching for her birth mother, who I later pieced together was MY Mother!
I found out two days before losing my Mother, that I had gained another Sister. It was a mix of shock and awe and sadness and relief, all at once. My Mother had given up this Sister several years ago, before she had married my Father. I made the decision on the spot then to get to know her and to invite her into our family.
To make a very long story shorter, we found out she was in fact, our Sister, and she even flew down to meet her birth Mother before she died. My Sister and I got to meet our new Sister just before our Mothers funeral. It's the picture you see above, and it's the only time all three of us have been in the same room.
I came to this site, as Ive swallowed my pride, and I think our Mother would be proud of me for doing this. As we are all spread out, one in Nova Scotia, one in Ireland, and myself here, I wanted to try and find a way to raise funds in order to bring us all together again, in the same room, and not under the same circumstances. The three of us have grown very close over the last few months, between Skype, texts, emails and telephone calls. We share so much in common, and we all still have so many questions for one another. I do this to ask for your help, very humbly, to please help us fund our voyage of getting to know eachother after the very terrible loss of our Mother.
Thank you very much for the opportunity to tell our story, and if you can or cannot help, thank you for reading all the same.
Elaine
My name is Elaine, and I grew up with one older Sister and no Brothers on the West Coast of Newfoundland. I grew up in a great home with two wonderfully supportive, loving parents. My Sister moved and got married in Ireland several years ago and has been living there raising her three children for close to 15 years. She tries to get home with them all every couple of years, and myself and Dad and Mom have also been over there to visit when we could.
Two years ago, our Mother, Florence, was diagnosed with cervical cancer, stage two. We stayed strong as a family, and got through the chemo and radiation, only to be overjoyed and full of relief when we were told it had gone away. We were so thankful and made sure afterwards Mom was living life to the fullest - it was a huge scare, and we were happy to get through it.
Last January, 2014, just after Christmas, my Mom was complaining of feeling sick, not being able to eat, having no energy, etc. As she had be going to her follow up appointments, we didnt expect for a second anything serious was wrong. Then, things got worse, very quickly, We ended up taking her to the emergency a few times, only for her to be sent home with pain medication and stomach pills. No mention of cancer or anything serious came from any Doctor.
The last time we took her to the hospital, she was finally admitted for extensive testing. By this point, she was unable to eat, but was with us 100% mentally, although she was physically, very weak.
After about a week in hospital, we were finally told that cancer had spread throughout her body. We were told this on a Tuesday evening. She later died four days later, Saturday afternoon.
While trying to deal with this news, I was also trying to get things in order for what we knew was coming. My Mother had matters to settle, and I was going through her emails trying to sort things out, when I came across one in particular. It was about a woman in Halifax, who had been searching for her birth mother, who I later pieced together was MY Mother!
I found out two days before losing my Mother, that I had gained another Sister. It was a mix of shock and awe and sadness and relief, all at once. My Mother had given up this Sister several years ago, before she had married my Father. I made the decision on the spot then to get to know her and to invite her into our family.
To make a very long story shorter, we found out she was in fact, our Sister, and she even flew down to meet her birth Mother before she died. My Sister and I got to meet our new Sister just before our Mothers funeral. It's the picture you see above, and it's the only time all three of us have been in the same room.
I came to this site, as Ive swallowed my pride, and I think our Mother would be proud of me for doing this. As we are all spread out, one in Nova Scotia, one in Ireland, and myself here, I wanted to try and find a way to raise funds in order to bring us all together again, in the same room, and not under the same circumstances. The three of us have grown very close over the last few months, between Skype, texts, emails and telephone calls. We share so much in common, and we all still have so many questions for one another. I do this to ask for your help, very humbly, to please help us fund our voyage of getting to know eachother after the very terrible loss of our Mother.
Thank you very much for the opportunity to tell our story, and if you can or cannot help, thank you for reading all the same.
Elaine
Organiser
Eelaine Pondini
Organiser
St. John's, NL
