Sister, brother reunite after 46 years

OWENSBORO, Ky. -- John Allard Sr. stepped into the Owensboro-Daviess County Regional Airport and made eye contact with a lady carrying a purple suitcase.

"You must be Dee," he said to the lady, and it wasn't a question. For the first time in 46 years, Allard had laid eyes on his sister, Dee Thompson.

As the suitcase dropped and the two hugged early this month, strangers, many of whom had overheard that this was a momentous reunion, smiled and wiped away a tear or two.

"I knew who it was the moment I saw her," Allard said. "It was a moment I waited my whole life for."

It's the cap to a lifetime of searching for lost family.

"It's all we ever dreamed of our entire lives, finding Jimmy and Johnny," Thompson said, talking about John and his brother, James.

In 1963, Allard was just 2 and Thompson was 1 and living with their family in Chicago. Neither of them has any memory of the other from that time. All they know is that's the year that the two boys, John and James, were adopted by another family.

"All I know is that it was hard times, but they made sure me and Jimmy stayed together. Mom made sure of that," Allard said.

Nobody heard anything from them for the better part of 4ˆ½ decades. Allard now lives in Dawson Springs, his brother lives in Waukegan, and Thompson lives in Lakeland, Fla.

When Allard was 13, he discovered his original birth certificate and the truth of his adoption. His adopted family shared stories, but it was never quite enough.

"It's been a lifetime of waiting," Allard said.

John and James, with the newfound truth of the deeper bond of blood they shared, did their best to stick together.

Family was always important, said John Allard, who has six children and 14 grandchildren of his own.

"Me and Jimmy always stayed close," Allard said. "I've always liked keeping them (family) as close as I can."

A month ago, one of Allard's sons got a message through Facebook from a woman named Janet Greenberg. Greenberg, of Holland, Mich., is Allard's sister. Greenberg came a week ago to visit for a couple days and Thompson is in Kentucky to visit for a week, thanks to $9.99 flight from Owensboro to Florida offered by Allegiant Air.

The family is hoping to put together a family reunion where the seven remaining siblings (the eldest, Shirley Llinas, died two months ago, before the brothers were found) and their mother, 68-year-old Janet Morrison, can get together for a proper family reunion at their mother's home in Ash Grove, Mo.

"She (mother) is beside herself. It's all we can talk about," Thompson said. "We've got all kinds of new names and faces to learn."

Thompson said the joy of rediscovering the lost brothers is hard to put into words.

"I'd rather have found my brothers than won the lottery," Thompson said. "We just wanted to know."

Allard said he is looking forward to reconnecting with his family and catching up on all that's passed since they've been separated.

"There's nothing more important than family. If you don't have family, what does it all mean? Money isn't anything," Allard said. "This is one of the happiest days of my life."