Nancy Drew and the Mystery of the Missing Siblings

My father had a tattoo on his upper arm that was hidden most of the time by the sleeve of his shirt. Back in the 50s, men would sometimes roll up even the short sleeves on a shirt. I would see the name “Ethel” tattooed on his arm and because it started with the letter “E,” I just assumed it was “Ellen,” my mother's name. As I grew older and could read, I asked him what it meant. He and my mom would just laugh and shrug it off.

When I was 12 years old, my parents decided to tell me that my father had been married before and had two children by this previous marriage. I heard what he was saying but it took me a while to really grasp what all that really meant. I had a sister and a brother!?!? That just did not seem real.

I don't know how your family was about “family gossip,” but mine was very “closed-mouthed.” One did not say anything about another family member—unless it was “good.” So, finding out information to pursue locating my siblings was almost impossible.

During our courtship, my future husband, asked about the “Ethel tattoo,” so I divulged my secret. Once we were married, he was on a mission to make my dream a reality because he knew how much I wanted to meet my siblings.

Now understand, this was not an overnight process. This took years of asking many questions with many phone calls (unbeknownst to me).

I didn't find out until years later that David had actually talked to my mother and brother’s mom, Ethel, on the phone and had gathered information from her. He also had talked to my sister who was married to a career military man, and was in the middle of a move and said it was not possible for us to meet at that time.

There were many other setbacks along the way.

Many years passed.

My cousin Gwen wanted me to meet my sister and brother as much as I did. My sister had for years met with her college suitemates at Edisto Beach. Between Gwen and my husband, they planned a reunion at Edisto Beach so my sister and I could spend the day together.

I can remember how scared I was at the time grew closer for our meeting. The suggestion was me that maybe we should speak on the phone first. So, a time was set for that conversation. The conversation between us was exciting but strange because I just didn't know what to talk about!

Can you believe that?

I was speechless! So, the both of us fumbled our way through that conversation making small talk—like how long it would take to drive from her location to Edisto Beach. The conversation only lasted a few minutes but we did settle on a time for the our first get together.

The day came for us to meet.

I must have gone through 10 outfits before I finally picked something out. I also gathered photos of family members and pictures of “our” father for her to see because I didn't know if she had ever seen a picture of him.

The drive to Edisto, which was only an hour, felt like it was forever but I made it. My cousin Gwen had already arrived and a few minutes later my sister Susan pulled up in the driveway.

I walked over to her and gave her a big hug and thought, “Hey we look like each other. She has the same smile!” And smile the rest of the day we did. I showed her pictures, we asked questions of each other, we shared memories and stories.

What a glorious day it was but everything must come to an end. And, before you knew it, I was on my drive home to Charleston.

Did I want the day to end? Absolutely not!

But we agreed that we would get together soon. We weren't going to let any more time slip away from us. After all, we were sisters! We were family.