HIGHFILL — Hugs were exchanged and tears flowed when a Decatur woman met for the first time her long-lost sister at Arkansas Regional Airport on March 2. Old letters and suspicions led to an online search and DNA testing to bring together the two sisters.
For Dawn Johnson, a long-time Decatur resident, the last 50 years have been happy ones. Like most people in this small rural town of 1,700, Johnson grew up with two very loving parents, a brother and cousins, unaware that a deep-rooted family secret was waiting in the wings, ready to reveal itself.
It seemed that someone from Greenville in South Carolina was trying to contact Johnson concerning a possible family link. A link that would forever change her life and those around her.
Lisa Stokes of Greenville had gone to Ancestry.com to research her family tree. What she found would prove to be a life changer as she discovered family links that ultimately led to Johnson as a possible full-blooded sister.
"I knew I had another sibling, but I didn't know how to go about finding (her) and it was more about that relationship than anything," Stokes said. "I had a wonderful mother, father, brother, aunts and uncles that all loved me very much. There was nothing that had adoption attached to it."
For Johnson, the suspicion that she was adopted came in 1981, when she was just 15 and found a stack of letters from her biological mother and grandmother. This made her curious but not enough to pursue the origins of those letters until much, much later in her life. But her recent contact with Lisa Stokes through her cousin, Brenda Kendrick, in December of 2016 confirmed what she had always suspected.
"I found letters that gave me a few clues but I never, but I had no idea," Johnson said. "I had an amazing childhood growing up on a farm in Decatur."
Both of Johnson's biological parents were part of a traveling road crew selling books and cleaning supplies door-to-door. Her father was the crew's manager and her mother was one of the sales persons. Shortly before her birth, her mother was arrested in Missouri for not possessing a door-to-door sales permit and was jailed for a short time.
Johnson's birth mother was let out long enough to give birth to a healthy baby girl in a hospital near the Lake of the Ozarks in Lebanon, Mo. Shortly afterward, her mother and father grew apart and were divorced. Her father met a couple from Decatur. Knowing that the couple would give her a good, loving home, he gave his infant daughter to them.
"I was never officially adopted, per se," said Johnson. "I was more of a gift to my parents and older brother, the only immediate family that I have ever known."
After several conversations about their family tree, Stokes and Johnson decided to take a DNA test through Ancestry.com to confirm their suspicions. After completing and sending in the test, the pair had an agonizing month-long wait for the results. Early in February, the test results came back and confirmed that Johnson and Stokes were indeed full-blooded sisters, separated for nearly 50 years.
After several long phone conversations over the next several weeks, Stokes decided to come to Northwest Arkansas to meet her new family member in person. Stokes, accompanied by her husband Chris, caught a flight out of the Charlotte, N.C., airport to Northwest Arkansas Regional Airport in Highfill, arriving around 10:40 a.m. on March 2.
Johnson, along with fiancee Randy Anglin, Jimmy Kendrick and cousin Brenda stood near the base of the down escalator, hoping to get a first glimpse of Stokes as she made her descent into the lobby of XNA. With signs in hand, Johnson waited an agonizing 10 minutes before her new sister appeared at the top. Tears began to stream from both Johnson and Stokes as the escalator brought the two long-lost sisters closer together.
"My heart was filled with joy when I saw her for the first time," said Stokes. "When I saw her face, I knew that she was my sister. Although there were a few differences, I looked into her eyes and knew."
Then, in a second, the two were united for the first time. At that moment, the years of separation were over and a new bond was forged, linking the two sisters together forever.
The party moved to the Wingate by Wyndham Hotel, located just north of XNA. Sitting in the lobby, the newly-expanded family began to share stories, photos and family history from the lost 50 years.
On the following Friday, Stokes and Johnson set up a series of computers to begin the search for additional family members, and the two were able to find out details on other cousins and relatives.
Jimmy Kendrick watched the events unfold before his eyes.
"It was interesting to see what everyone with a common interest can do through the Ancestry site," Kendrick said. "Especially, once they are all together and able to share facts instantly. The website sure ties things together and bridges many gaps."
Joining forces, the two sisters will, no doubt, find a host of new family members and add new branches to their family trees.
General News on 03/15/2017