A heartwarming story coming out of Australia proves the old saying that ‘you always find your way back home’. In 1945 two brothers were brought together and reunited again after 77 years separated.
Ted Nobbs, 83, and his brother Geoff, 79, have spent over seventy years and 10,000 miles apart after their family was split toward the conclusion of WWII. Ted and some siblings Barry and John were completely isolated from their youngest brother Geoff after their mother perished due to cancer at age 30 in 1945.
Their father couldn’t adapt to being a single parent, working full time all while focusing on Geoff, who was 1 at that point and chose to offer him up for adoption to allow him an opportunity at a superior life. Geoff moved to Australia in 1951 at seven years old and has lived there from that point forward, proceeding to have eight children and grandkids of his own. Ted, Barry, and John had all attempted a few times over the years to track down their younger sibling with next to no luck.
“I did a few searchers,” said Nobbs. “I did the first note in 1994 and then again in 2004. We went through Supporting Adults Affected By Adoption, but again there was luck and Barry also tried to find him separately.”
However, little did they know that their luck would take a new direction in 2014, four years after their oldest sibling John died when Geoff tracked down Barry and sent him a letter.
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“A letter from Geoff just landed on Barry’s doorstep out of the blue,” said Knobbs. “We were all reunited on a phone call and it was just wonderful catching up. It absolutely crunched me when he found us, I just didn’t think it would happen. There were a few tears shed. He planned to come over to England for my 80th birthday but red tape at his end scuppered those plans as COVID kicked in.”
In addition, Christopher also received a video from Geoff that he played where he wished him a very happy birthday. The grandfather of three decided to take the 22-hour trip on Sunday for the massive reunion on his own, as sibling Barry was unfortunately too sick to even consider traveling. Presently, Geoff lives just south of Sydney and has eight kids himself, with his latest occupation being working with horses before him resigning.
“I haven’t flown for 50 years,” Nobbs said. “I had to get a passport again. It doesn’t worry me, I’m quite happy to go… to be able to give him a hug is going to be wonderful.”
“We’re going to fly from Sydney to the Sunday Islands,” he said, adding he will also visit the Incomparable Boundary Reef. “It will be absolutely fantastic. I shall be meeting Geoff and his daughter and son. I’ve also got a wedding of Geoff’s granddaughter and I’m invited to the wedding.”
A friend of his child Christopher donated a huge portion of Avios flyer miles to help pay for the return part of the trip.