Hey lovelies,

A lot of people have been asking both Grace and I about our connection. Some people have even been bold enough to ask if we are “real sisters”. The answer I will give is this. If, by “real sisters” people are asking if my sister, Grace and I are biological sisters with a blood connection, the answer is yes, we are blood sisters; we have the same biological father.

The deeper answer I will give about my sister Grace and I is that, even if we did not have a blood connection, we would be sisters in our hearts. Our connection is comparable to that of non-romantic soul mates. We were born to different mothers, but oddly enough, both of our biological mother’s names are Barbara.

Grace and I both grew up in Ontario, but not in the same home or even in the same town. When Grace was born, her parents (our father Michael and her mother, Barbara) were very young. After facing some family pressure, they ended up giving Grace up for adoption. Just before I was born, my parents (my mother, Barbara and our father, Michael) separated.

My mother continued living at home until her family decided that having an unwed mother living with them was shaming their family. They gave my mother very little notice and told her to leave. She ended up staying with a man who would later adopt me and raise me. My mother and my adopted father chose not to tell me about my adoption. At the age of 11, I found some documents that made me realise that I had a whole different family that I had been kept from.

I will not tell the deeper aspects of my sister’s story, that is her story to share. Grace and I met for the first time when I was 11 years old. We then met again once when I was 16 years old. The depth of our connection truly began in 2000. Grace wrote me a letter and sent me some pictures of her life.

Grace continued to reach out to me and I responded in kind. In 2003, I was pregnant with my fourth child and I ended up renting a farm house near Grace’s home. She drove by my house everyday on her way home from work, so she began stopping in for supper.

I was honoured to have Grace at the birth of my youngest daughter. It was a deeply touching and connecting experience for both of us. In 2004, I moved to British Columbia, Canada. It was Grace’s idea. She thought my heart and soul would fit in better on the West Coast; she was right. She joined me on the West Coast of Canada and since then, we have continued to build our lives both separately and together.

In 2013, I moved with my husband and our children to the Midwest. I only saw Grace and her family once in the whole time I was gone. It was difficult on both of us to live so far apart but in November of 2017, I left my husband and moved back to the eclectic island of Salt Spring. I not only have Grace in my life again, I am now blessed to have her working with me on this blog and my business ventures.

It is an exciting time for us and we are truly blessed to be able to share our journey with you! The photo below is one of us with our father, Michael. It was taken on Christmas day in 2003. I was 6.5 months pregnant with my youngest daughter.

From our hearts to yours,

Joy and Grace