112. Long Lost Sisters

Music. We met Janine. Is this a darling named Janane? Who had a very exciting journey discovering her biological parents, father, Clay, who she met on the Sally Jesse Raphael show, and mother, Vicky. She also found out that she had two half-sisters, Julie and Jenny. Yes, the three sisters have very similar J names. When we concluded last show, her mother, Vicky, had passed away, and Janine said, you know, she can die with a clear conscious. Yeah. Michelle comes along and like, hold my beer.

Here I am. So I thought I was the big secret in the family. Nope. Here I am. Yeah. The bombshell's name is Michelle. She is a new sister, one that Janine,

Julie, and Jenny did not know that they had. She is the daughter whose existence Vicki took to the grave. And I don't like that. After all the cobweb sweeping that Janine did, how is it that Michelle's name didn't float up and out of the dust? But I guess maybe they, and I, can look at it like a special surprise gift that just shows up with a cute little bow on top.

Either way, I want Michelle to be able to tell her story, the whole dang thing, from her grandparents arriving in the U.S. to the day she became a happy bombshell. Because the ending is really great. We talk every single day. Like, all the time. And I don't refer to her as my half-sister. No, I... Michelle's just sister. Yeah. Like, I could tell her anything. It's just completely free. It's such a gift. Grateful for it. Yeah. You know. Music.

Both Michelle and Janine are here today in black t-shirts with their tattoos peeking out the sleeves. And their lives growing up in safe and happy adoptive families were also similar. Michelle's parents were always honest with her that she was adopted. I was adopted when I was six days old. They were good parents. But still, she fantasized a little bit about her biological mother.

Did you have fantasies? The only thing I had is when Roseanne Barr, of all people, found her, had given a daughter up for adoption and found her. She was adopted from the same place I was adopted from in Denver. And I was like, I got the dark hair. I got that. So it was kind of like, could I be her? Oh, my God. Like, you're like, am I Roseanne Barr's daughter? Yeah. And similar to Janine, she had some troubles, especially in those teen years with her mom.

Also, when I got mad at my mom, I'm like, you're not my real mom. I did the same thing. Oh, did you? It's so hurtful. You're poor mom. I think about it now. I'm like, sorry, mom. She struggled with not looking like her family. I have a brother that's 15 years younger than me. And that's it. I have sisters that have, you know, anything like that. Same thing. Didn't look like any of them. You know, they try to say I look like my dad because he's tall and has dark hair.

But I'm like, eh, no. But this was her family, and they had a deep history and

tradition that, of course, they shared with their precious daughter. She used to tell me my favorite bedtime story about how they walked around and they looked in the bassinets and, no, that's not the one for us. And then, you know, found, there she is. And, you know, always made me feel very, very special. Chosen. Exactly. Chosen. That used to be my favorite story.

So many stars had to align for those parents to be there that day, gazing into each bassinet until their eyes alighted on little Michelle.

So I want you to hear some of their journey, even though this part isn't a very good bedtime story. My mom was a German Jew. Holocaust survivor, actually. Your mother was? Yeah. My mom and her and my grandparents lived in Berlin, and then Hitler was coming through. My great-great-uncle Oscar was a physicist in Germany, and he told them, you know, you got to get out, you got to get out. And somehow arranged for them to get on a ship to Shanghai.

They went to Shanghai, which there are a lot of survivors that ended up in Shanghai. Oh, okay. If you go into some of the Holocaust museums, there'll be a section dedicated to the people that were in Shanghai. So there they were held, prisoners of the Japanese, in like an encampment kind of thing. And my mom, when she was nine, I think, had her appendix removed with no anesthesia. Yeah. And had to share a bed with a woman whose legs had just been amputated.

She has one story that'll just break your heart, where all she wanted for her birthday was an apple. Just a red apple and my grandpa i'm sorry my grandfather sold his watch to get her that apple and she didn't want to eat it she carried around for my grandmother was finally like it's gonna rot you gotta eat it you gotta do something but that one apple was the only thing that she wanted and he did what he had to do to get her that apple oh so yeah. Music.

And then when the war was over, they got on a ship and came to, I think, Philly. They didn't do New York. I think it was Philly when they first came to Philly. The day they got to Philly, it was Halloween. And so they're in a little temporary department. And, you know, here are these kids in masks. And they have no idea what's going on. They don't have Halloween in Germany. So, yeah, that was their first. My grandmother was, like, terrified.

So they ended up moving to Denver, and my grandfather had a successful accounting business, and, you know, they did really well. A lot of the same people that they knew in Shanghai also moved to Denver. So they even had like a little club of all these people. They had a community of the people that had been there in Shanghai.

Uncle Oscar made it out okay, too. the nazis were trying to get him because they wanted him to help design the atom bomb, so he actually took all of his paperwork everything buried it way out in the forest somewhere and then he would go from village to village or town to town to town and the nazis would be hot on his trail but the people that were in these towns would cover for him and then when the war

was over he went back out in the woods and he got all his stuff he used to play chess with Einstein. He and Einstein used to be friends. Oh, my God. It was so cool. I don't think I knew that. Yeah. Yeah. Wow. I'm learning some new stuff. They used to play chess together. Music. So my mom used to go around and talk to like the World War II club, to high school classes talking about the Holocaust and stuff like that.

And my grandmother wouldn't eat rice ever again because that's all they had was rice. Right. But we lost family members in concentration camps and all that kind of stuff. They made it to Denver, Colorado, not without scars, but were able to make a life for themselves. Her mom married a man named Les and then discovered that she couldn't have children. So they went down to the Jewish Family Home Services, filled out all the forms, and that's where the legend begins.

Yeah, and then they adopted me and she used to tell me my favorite bedtime story, about how they walked around and they looked in bassinets and no, that's not the one for us. And then, you know, found there she is and, you know, always made me feel very, very special.

Music. Even though Les is on her birth certificate, he didn't actually turn out to be Michelle's dad. And Les died of cancer when I was two. Oh, wow. And then she met my dad when I was five. And then they got married and we ended up moving to Florida. We were in Colorado up to that point. Man, that is a lot. So, you know, she went through a lot. And I know I just never felt like, even though I'd be mean too, and I'm going to go find my real mom kind of thing.

I just kind of felt like, you know, they got me when I was six days old. So she's really all I've ever known. Yeah. You know, and I didn't have a bad life. I was spoiled rotten. I was the only child for till Andy was born. Right. Yeah. Yeah. And grandchild. Yeah. So, yeah, I was spoiled rotten. You were spoiled. So, I mean, I had a good life with them. So the parent lottery worked out OK for Michelle. She had a good life. And just when she was least expecting it, her mom also got some good news.

Yeah, she couldn't get pregnant until, you know, we were, they were up for adoption for a little boy because they wanted a little boy. And the day that there was a little boy available, she found out she was pregnant with my brother. Oh, my gosh. So, yeah, we're going to cancel. Yeah, we'll cancel that order now. Take a girl now. Oh, gosh. So, for me, you know, being the only child for so long and grandchild, and then here comes my brother. Shock to the system. Did you hate him?

I hated him, but I acted out. Yeah, I bet. I really did. Okay, that was nice. Music.

That's Michelle's family creation story. It wasn't until her mom passed away from breast cancer in 2018 that she started thinking about her family medical history and knowing something about her biological parents. But she didn't really have the means to pursue it. I tried to get my medical records from the adoption agency and was told, well, what courthouse was it? This is Denver. I had no idea. And for every time that I was going to try, it was like $75. I'm like, well, I can't afford that.

So she tried the internet route, and that proved very fruitful. So I did 23andMe just because they have some medical stuff that they, you know, can look for. And I'm like, well, it's better than nothing. And then it came back and it said, do you want to, you know, put your DNA out there? And I was like, might as well. Yeah, within a week, I had. It was like ping, ping, ping. I had two nieces, my paternal side. And then our cousin, Mike, found me.

Our cousin, Mike. Our. This is where Janine comes into the picture. I was talking to him, and he's the one that told me I had three sisters. So did Mike? I think he reached out to Julie. Yeah, I think Mike reached out to Julie and was like, hey, yeah, there might be another one. Oh, wow. Yeah, so Julie goes, oh, we got to do 23andMe. And he said, well, our cousin had found a first cousin on 23 May. So I'm like, well, wait, what was she going to ask?

And we had talked, and I remember thinking, like, even if she's not my sister, I'm going to adopt her. Yeah, right away. There's no barriers to entry in this family. No, no, no. Janine was surprised, but not at all shocked. Her heart was open to add more. Vicki's daughters were a bit more hesitant. I mean, they'd already gone through the shock of Janine's reveal and gone through their mother passing. Well, I talked to Mike first on the phone, and then I think I talked to Julie.

Yeah. And Julie was still kind of skeptic. You know, we didn't know. We didn't know. And then when the results came back, there was no doubt. It was like 27 percent or, you know, it came back. No doubt. OK. Yeah. Yeah. It was a shock to Michelle as well. So this all for me, just like Janine, was a whirlwind. Within two weeks, here I had a new family. And I was just like almost in shock

because you just don't expect that. Yeah. While Michelle was processing all this, Janine was doing something most of us probably would. She was cyber-stalking. Doing some preliminary detective work to figure out who is this new sister. So it's pretty funny. So when I first found out about Michelle, I went on Facebook and I was checking her out. Sure. Did you really? You never told me that. Oh, remember I thought that your

son was your husband? I'm like, you go girl. Oh yeah, that's right, that's right. My son. And then also, I was nervous because she's from Florida. And I was like, oh my God, please don't be a Trumper. And I saw her in this, remember the tape dress? Oh, from the cruise. Yeah, talk about that. I was worried. I definitely want to hear about a tape dress. Okay, so I was on a, I can't believe I used to do them, Kid Rock cruise. Right now I'm just like, meh.

But it was before all the political stuff. I was just going with friends. We didn't have a good time. So they had a redneck prom night. So my daughter made me out of duct tape a prom dress. It was the Confederate flag. And so that's what she saw. I was like, oh, my God. Got it. Please, please don't be a Trumper. No, no, no, no. I was really happy to find out that was not the case. Oh, what a relief. Yeah, yeah.

After the initial scare of the Confederate flag tape dress, a cute story about something a daughter made for her mother, and also a thing Michelle would not

wear today, Janine and Michelle started talking on the reg. Janine and I, I mean, we started communicating almost every day. And then a kind of amazing thing happened for them. The world went into lockdown and neither of them could work. Oh. And then through the pandemic, because she wasn't working and I couldn't see clients. Right, right. We watched movies together and we were supposed to go on a cruise in 2020. That's what we were going to meet for the first time is we were going to cruise.

Oh, wow. Yeah, we'd say we're going to cruise. That felt true, obviously. Yeah. So, yeah, we would just talk every day and watch movies, and we just really got to know each other and have so much in common. There's very little, I think, what, two things that we've discovered that we don't have in common. Yeah, we have definitely vegetables that she likes that I don't like. She liked football, but now I'm sort of liking football, so I think there's been a bit of an influence on her.

She's pulling you to the dark side. Yeah, she's pulling me to the dark side. They found that they were super connected and had a lot of common interests. We both love RuPaul. I mean, drag queens is our thing. Oh, like rock and roll, tattoos, movies, music. Yeah. We just click. Spiritual stuff. Spiritual stuff, yeah. Just a connection. I mean, we read each other's minds. It's so funny. I'll be just thinking it. And she'll be like, say it out loud. I go, shut up.

Get out of my head. I did that the other day. She goes, wait, get out of my head. Music. Biological mother Vicki passed away before Michelle got to meet her, but at least she found out who she was. You didn't get to meet Vicki, right? No, I did not. Now, I saw the video. She sent me the video immediately. And like Janine said, there was like really no connection. It's like I'm watching it. I'm going, well, here's this, you know, my sister, and this is wonderful.

This is happening to her. But there was no connection with that is my birth mom. Right. Janine and Michelle worked together to fill in more holes in their mother's story, and it turned out they are very close in age. Apparently she liked the military because I was born in Denver. I was conceived in Denver. She was conceived in Denver. It was a military man. We're 18 months. We're 18 months apart. That's it? Yeah, we're 18 months apart. So she was busy.

She was having fun. Yeah. Wow. She was a ho-ho. Yes, she was. Yes, she was. with maybe not enough access to birth control. Sorry, Mom. Sorry, Vicki.

Music. No, I have the two nieces. We think we know who it is, but none of the men in that side of the family will do 23andMe. So, you know, it's so funny because all these people, you know, have all their dark little secrets. That's right. Now 23andMe is coming out and everybody's finding everybody. Oh, my gosh. Yes. This is so common now. Yeah.

So, but they weren't married, Vicki and... No, I'm under the impression that my situation was more like a oopsie one night stand, maybe, or I don't think there was any kind of relationship. But they had a little bit of a relationship. They dated. I don't think very long. I kind of believe I was probably conceived out of loneliness. Loneliness is not the worst way to be conceived. Are you itchy about your biological dad? Like, do you want to know? I mean, it would be nice to know, yeah.

But not, you know, am I going to be heartbroken because of it? No. And that side of the family seems to, like I said, they seem to have a lot of secrets about different things. Because what's really interesting is the two nieces, one of them is almost on the sister range on 23andMe as far as the percentage, and the other is definitely niece.

Niece so i don't know if there's something a little shady going on with that or not but we don't have any way to to find out these numbers are not numbering yeah exactly she's like 22 percent and we're like 26 and 27 or something like that could have been some going on in that family yeah which is probably why the men don't want to be that's right yeah right right and she she can't get one of the nieces is trying to get her mom to do it and she won't do it either so there's There's definitely

some big old secrets on that side. Yep. And maybe you don't want the answers. Yeah. And that's fine. That's fine. I'm happy with my sisters. Yes. Yes. You know, be careful what you wish for because.

Music. Always knew that she was Jewish, as you heard. But when Janine found her mother, she and her half-sisters also discovered that they were Jewish. What about for you? Well, I always knew I was a princess. I just didn't know I was a Jewish princess. You were close. It's funny because I grew up very, very religious Christian. And so it was interesting. It was like, oh, you know, I was sort of like, oh, you know, when I watch the Holocaust movies now, I go, of my people.

There's a little more heart there, I guess, but I don't know anything about it. We wanted to try to learn a little bit more about it, the Russian Jews. We're a, what is it? Yeah, Ashkenazi. Ashkenazi. That's what we are. Yeah. Janine is still learning, and she didn't get any information from Vicki about this, who claims her religious parents disowned her. But luckily, with Michelle's background, she has information she can share.

There was one upside to this new part of Janine's identity that she was ready to explore. I did think, oh, this is a whole other dating pool, but it's just another party. So I went on to Jewish dating, and then I didn't understand the rest of it, so I didn't, you know, because I didn't know the different Jewish groups. Right, yeah, yeah. Yeah, so, yeah. You were rejected, basically, because you couldn't pick a box. No, I couldn't pick a box. So I'm like, oh, well, I tried.

But I did think, oh, my possibilities have opened up. I'm Jewish.

It's all been a lot to process, but they've had good times already getting to know each other. They went to Nebraska to visit the extended family and did an epic sister trip. Well, last year, the sisters came to me, and we rented a gorgeous beach house. Oh, my God. Oh, all of you guys? Yeah. Oh, my God. On St. George Island, and spent three days together. Oh, it's beautiful. It was so much fun. We had so much fun.

Playing Monopoly and, you know, just acting like sisters. Just, you know, we felt like kids. Yeah. How magical. We got pop rocks, and we're sitting there like, oh, and pop rocks are going off. All they wanted to do as a kid. All they wanted to do as a kid. As a kid. To do.

Right, right. Could have been some alcohol involved in that, too. but we had we had a good time and they're finally seeing people who look like them when we were at the grocery store before we headed down the beach last year this woman comes up she goes sisters right and i'm like it was so excited we're like look at like somebody yeah yeah yeah it really is it's yeah it's yeah it really is so but then even when the sisters the sisters picture

we have when we first met in the airport and you could just see resemblances all over yes yeah so that's it in there comparing, oh, wait, I had six fingers. Oh, I did too. You know, all those little. Yeah, I did have that question watching the video. Does everybody have the six fingers? Like how strong is this trait? I don't remember. I think, I thought Jenny said she did. Did she?

But they were just, I have these little, they look like little warts, but they were just these little fingers that were tied off. See, I think I have them. Yeah. Michelle avoided the six fingers and she avoided the name confusion. Jenny might have had them. Yeah. And there's the thing. Okay. Okay, Julie and Jenny, she was adopted. She ended up with a J name. I'm like, well, Michelle. And Michelle. So we're like, we have to give her a J name. Give her a J name.

An honorary J name. Yeah. Oh, and we got tattoos together. Oh, yeah. We got our little initials. You have the J? Yeah, for me. And then you have the J. And I have the S in the show. Oh, you guys. That's so true.

Oh sister tattoos these two genuinely for real adore each other, I mean we seriously we talk every single day all the time it's just really nice to have somebody I completely I can tell her anything there's no religious stuff it's just completely free that's amazing I can get advice we really support each other when we're having bad days you know, it's such it's such a gift to have Janine was really close with her big brother who passed away last year.

So Michelle has been the big sister that she didn't know she would need. And especially with my brother passing this year, having her around. I mean, they're the same age. He was September 16th and hers was 22nd. Oh, wow. Same year. Oh, my goodness. Yeah. Yeah. So it's just been such a gift to have an older sister. I always wanted an older sister. Yeah. Yeah.

Thank you for watching! Music. Another similarity between Michelle and Janine is that they both put in work to recover from what they've been through, including things they didn't even know they needed to recover from. Now I'm in therapy now. I'm doing EMDR therapy because it was brought to my attention that I do have abandonment issues because of being adopted.

Actually, we have a lot of the same stuff that we've noticed with relationships and stuff but she's done her time and therapy i'm still i'm still there but how does how does that like manifest for you abandonment issues like well apparently not feeling like you're good enough in friendships you know feeling left out when really it's not you know or why isn't why isn't why did that person tag that person in that post and didn't take me i would

have thought you know i should have your brain just kind of works like that and also i mean there's some studies about like yourselves like your cells have experienced the first thing you experience is abandonment you know of course we got adopted right after but that first you know and i think you hold that in your body and even though you do work and everything it's still you know and if you think about it you've been with your mother and

you've had that energy and you familiar with that energy when you're in the womb and then it's not there anymore. So it's got a, yeah. It's maybe an unconscious thing, but you know, like babies are, you know, they know their mothers and stuff. So yeah. But yeah, a lot of, a lot of this, like you said, like worried about being left out. Not good enough. Not good enough. Yeah. There's, there's a lot. I think if you read a lot about that, if you read more about adoptees and stuff,

There's a lot of that out there. Coming out, yeah. Right. That I didn't realize. It's like a deeper level, like soul, you know, cell level that we don't even realize. Yeah. I also feel like I've noticed over the years with my love life, I'm still single. And I think so many of the connections I've had with men have come from a place of loneliness. And I feel like it's almost like the sins of the mother, you know?

And I've noticed that over the years. I'm like, you know, it was more of a desperate need rather than, you know, I really like this person. They're really good or whatever. It felt like there was a lot more of a, yeah, of a desperate need or loneliness. Like, oh, I'm going to sleep with this person because I'm lonely and I want that companionship. Right, right. Which is so fascinating to me because we both had great adopted, you know, parents and stuff.

But there was still that thing that's missing for it. Yeah. So, yeah. Yeah, same with me. I feel the same way about relationships with men. Yeah. And I mean, I struggled with my mom and there was that whole thing of not being good enough with my mother because the way she was with me, it was like, oh, you know, if you can't do it right, don't do it at all. And that creates that feeling of like, like you're a little kid in the kitchen helping your mama.

And, you know, and she takes it and said, well, if you can't do it right, don't do it at all. And then right away, you're starting to go like, well, you know, it changes something inside of you at that core level. And then it just keeps going and going. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. And so then, you know, it creates you would be a certain way. Like, so, you know, I'm not good enough created me to be a good girl.

And that works sometimes, but it's not authentic. And so there's this whole other thing being like, okay, I'm the good girl, but then, you know, I get walked on because I'm not, it's not real. Right. You know, it's like, oh, okay, I'm going to be on time. I'm going to be, you know, it could help in some things, but it's not real. So it creates something in you, unless you've done work on yourself. Yeah. are aware of it. You know, you live your life at a certain point,

I could go on. I've got a therapist in my head. You need to be aware of what you become because of these messages. Right. You know, so you can change it. They're both considering doing some dating. I mean, they're both hot and single and have a sister best friend to tell giggly stories to. Sounds fabulous. But in the meantime, they're one another's date for Valentine's Day. I'm a huge Aerosmith fan, and we were supposed to go see them in Tampa,

and then Stephen did something to the vocal cords, whatever. Anyway, canceled. Well, they've now rescheduled it for Valentine's Day in February. So I called her the other day. I'm like, will you be my valentine? She's like, what? I'm like, they've rescheduled. So, yeah, she's going to come to me and hang out. Fine. Rendezvous. Rendezvous. Down at the 6th Street Rendezvous. Music.

They had a long journey to get to this point. It took Janine decades to find her biological parents. And Michelle didn't make it in time to meet her mother. So I'm wondering what their opinion is on requiring open adoption. How do you guys feel about... So there's been a push recent, you know, adoptees talking about, like, putting laws around that adoptions have to be open. Like you have to have that information.

So I'm just wondering, do you guys feel strongly about that or don't you? I do. You do? Yeah. I think I call it my heart puzzle. And when I talk to clients about my story and they're saying, oh, we're looking at thinking of adopting or whatever, I always say I think an open adoption is the way to go because. It's just human nature to want to know where you come from. And it doesn't mean you're trying to replace your family.

Like when I found out, when I met my birth mother and met my birth father, I was so grateful for my parents. Like I remember, you know, after Vicki had called me up that day and was upset that I had told her daughters, I remember calling my mom crying, going, I'm so thankful. You know, we had a hard time, mom, but thank you for not lying to me. Because, you know, and it just, the more I got to know what my life would have been like, the more I was so grateful for my life.

Yeah. And, yeah. So, but I do, I do feel that open adoption, there should be a way for you to be able to at least find out your background, you know, if they want to know. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. I mean, yeah, as being someone that's adopted, yeah. But then you got to think about, well, like Janine said, be careful what you wish for.

Because whoever it was may not even want to know who you are you know and that to me could cause a little bit more psychological and emotional damage you know so it's kind of like you know i think at least medical records should be released yeah because that really screws you don't know right right do i have a history of breast cancer do we have you know what right but i mean open open Open adoption would be good, too. But, you know, my advice is just be careful.

It's not only going to turn out like ours did. That's right. That's right. It's not always a good sitch. Yeah, it's a little Pandora's box situation. It is. Yeah. But definitely medical records. I think you're right. You least have access to medical records so you know what diseases you might need to look out for or what you need, you know, because that's like we have no idea.

We have no idea. well and the other thing I guess maybe this is a small percent concern but like accidentally dating your brother or sister yeah that's true that's true yeah it does and it's horrible yeah. Music. Else you want to add about your whole experience grateful for it yeah yeah yeah that you know best friend out of it yeah i. Music. Parked the van in the alley lost about half the gear there's five souls crowd in the dance floor what the fuck are

we doing here this week michelle is visiting from And they have a whole itinerary planned. Listen to these two. We went to Felton and took the train through the Redwoods. That was awesome. And did Santa Cruz. San Francisco yesterday. Walking around the Haight, which was cool. Went to Cha-Cha-Cha's. One of my favorites. Oh, what? Yeah. Yeah. A little bit of shopping. Golden Gate Bridge decided it was going to be fogged in for me. Yeah, it was foggy. Oh, okay. Went to Crissy Field and it was, ugh.

And then today we just tootled around. We met our friend for lunch. Last night we had dinner with a bunch of my friends. Yeah. And then tomorrow I have a show at the Baltic Kiss in Richmond. Okay. So we made sure that she would be here for a show. Oh, that'll be fun. Yeah. So she comes to my band. I went to go see Janine perform with her band, the Hyperdrive Kittens. She's a really fun lead singer.

On stage, Janine is wearing a short sequin red dress, and Michelle is sitting right in front in a sequin pink tank. Apparently they did not plan the matchy outfits. It's just one of those things sisters do. Music. And then Sunday we head out to Monterey to go meet Michael and Jodi. Okay. Probably do the aquarium. Yeah. Yeah. Do the aquarium. Yeah. And then we'll come back and then we're hoping to see Jason Momoa. Momoa Wednesday. Oh. He's going to be at the Lucky's, but there may be a long line.

So we'll see. Is he doing like a meet and greet or something? Yeah. He's doing, he has a vodka. Yeah. So he's signing bottles of vodka. In Alameda? Yes. In Alameda. Jason Momoa is going to be there. Yes. Hello. Thank you. Come hang out with us. Come hang out with us. We're going to get chairs. We're going to try to do it. I go to your last day. What do you want to do? I want to be Jason Momoa. Oh, my gosh. I want to go up to him and go, just hold me like you hold police.

Please. Please let me wrap myself around. So we both have these like. Our body pillows. And we've named them. And mine is Robert Downey Jr. And mine's Jason. I don't know. Music.

We were wrapping up the interview, and they were heading out for their next few days exploring California together. But there was one more bombshell that they were unintentionally holding on to. Janine knew that her mother, Vicki, was troubled by her past. When she was saying she was hearing babies crying, and I was thinking, oh, she's, you know, she's, it's all about me, you know? And then I find out, I'm like, oh, maybe there's more to the story than,

you know? There was definitely more to the story. Secrets that Vicki took to her grave. Michelle's existence was revealed. But is there more? And then we think we might have an older brother, too, that we don't know about. Whoa. Yeah. Okay. What? An older brother? They're meeting up with their cousins Mike and Jodi soon. And this is where the rumor of a brother originated.

And he may know a little bit more about our brother. because it was my understanding that our brother used to live with them. Okay. And then he just kind of disappeared. Okay. So nobody knew. Please tell me about this brother situation. We don't know. He's older than me. Yeah. Well, where did the idea come from that he exists? This cousin. Okay. Mike told us. Yeah, Mike told us. Back to Mike.

Okay. I think he said he remembered, but then there was something about Vicki just leaving the son with the father. Yeah. So there's so much we don't know. No, so much we don't know. So we're hoping that, you know, maybe they can fill in the gaps. Yeah. So yeah, we're hoping there'll be a little bit more information. Their hearts are open to whatever new information may come their way.

They now understand both the satisfaction of knowing your biological roots and the reality that blood alone doesn't make family ties. So Michelle just keeps watching 23andMe for whatever new siblings might upload their DNA. Every time 23andMe does a dump of new relatives, I always look to see if there's anybody that high. It's usually like, you know, eighth cousin, you know, so I don't usually bother with it. Regardless of all these surprises, Janine and Michelle are so grateful.

They're grateful for their mother's choice, which gave them stable home lives and parents who told them that they were so wanted. Now three family stories have been woven together. the struggles and resilience, the pain and difficult choices, the mistakes and heartaches and joys, the rejections and reunions. And they're so grateful for finding one another. Their differences are interesting points to explore beneath the mounting commonalities that bind them.

And that's the story of Janine and Michelle, long-lost sisters. Music. You guys are cute when we go upstairs remind me to take your picture okay okay that's it grateful. Music.