[man] Can you find my son?

It would mean the world.

[woman] I miss my brother.

We just don't know where to turn.

Over the past decade, we've helped hundreds of people find long lost relatives.

-We've found your mum.

-Ahhhhh!

[sobbing] I don't want to let you go.

I've imagined this moment my whole life.

My whole life.

-Are they brother and sister?

-They are half siblings.

Phew!

I'm your bigger brother.

Debbie!

Debbie!

Hello!

Oh!

Lovely to see you.

[Davina] But meeting is just the beginning.

The reunion opened a can of worms.

How easy is it to build a relationship after a lifetime apart?

We became close from day one.

[woman] I wanted to find her all my life, and she's not what I thought she was.

This is the series where we find out what happened next.

-This week... -I love you, Anne.

-I love you.

-...one of the most powerful mother and daughter reunions we've ever had.

It's just completely changed me as a person.

Reunited sisters support each other in challenging times.

When one of us is hurting, we all hurt.

Oh, God, sis, don't cry.

And for one woman, unexpected revelations have a lasting impact.

Are you kidding me?

Oh, my goodness!

[birds singing] The woman in our first story came to us nearly ten years ago.

Like many adopted people, she had burning questions about her start in life.

But did she get the answer she was hoping for?

-Hello.

All right, darling?

-All right?

-All right?

-Yeah.

Mum of three, Anne Clegg, had been searching for her birth mother for most of her adult life.

[Anne] She had me for six weeks.

She breast-fed me.

How could anybody give that baby away?

Was there a reason that she didn't love me?

It would be absolutely amazing to find answers.

Anne was adopted as a baby and brought up by a couple in Essex.

It was a happy childhood.

My mum and dad were lovely, lovely people.

But when Anne was 11, her mother gently told her she was adopted.

[Anne] I was like, "Ooh, what happened?

What were the reasons that I'm not with my birth mum?"

I felt rejected.

It was in the back of my head all the time, the reasons why, and I never felt completely and utterly loved.

It wasn't until Anne was 19 and a mother herself that she got some answers from her adoption records.

It said my biological birth mum's name, which was Janet Lee.

It said that my mum was only 17 when she actually got pregnant with me.

But the documents couldn't tell Anne what she really wanted to know.

[Anne] I need to know she loved me.

I have to find her.

[sighs] I'm 48 now.

I need...

It's just something inside I need.

[distant siren wailing] [Nicky] With no other leads, Anne turned to us for help.

Fortunately, something in her adoption file allowed us to narrow the search.

"The girl's mother is a North Country woman.

She hails from Southport and her family have joined to try to restart the girl in the north and she has a flat to go to in Southport."

[Nicky] Eventually, we found records for a Janet Lee of the right age still living in the area.

She had married and changed her name to Janet Cullen.

-Janet.

-Hi, Nicky.

-Nicky.

How are you?

-Oh, I'm so pleased to meet you.

Janet lives with her husband Mike and has three younger daughters.

[Nicky] So when you found out that Anne was looking for you...

I was so thrilled because you never, ever, ever give up hope.

I was 16 when I had Anne, and I was 17 four days after.

I had her with me for six weeks, and I fed her four hourly and changed her nappies and hugged her and kissed her and winded her and... [sighs] ...laid her down in her cot at night.

And then after six weeks... you know that the adoption date's coming.

You want to stop it from happening, but you can't.

I couldn't take her home.

I didn't have anywhere to take her.

I didn't have any money.

My mother was living in the most dreadful situations, circumstances, at the time.

I couldn't, I couldn't keep her.

That must have been so difficult.

It's absolutely terrible.

When you have to walk away and leave your own baby... behind, and know that you're never, ever, ever gonna see them again, that... it never leaves you.

That never, ever goes away.

She's my little girl.

I think it's time that you saw a recent photograph... of Anne.

[Janet] Oh, my God!

[Nicky] There's Anne.

[Janet gasps] Oh, my God!

Oh, she's smiling.

[sniffles] Oh, darling, I hope you've smiled all your life.

She's got my dimple.

Oh, wow!

-Do you want to meet her?

-I really, really desperately want to meet her.

I need to hold her.

[Davina] The following week, I went to see Anne, and I was able to give her the news she'd been waiting decades to hear.

-Hi, Anne.

-Hello, Davina!

-How are you?

-Lovely.

-Are you all right?

-Yeah, I'm great, thank you.

-Please come in.

-Yes, yes.

Thank you.

Thanks very much.

We have found your mother.

And she's well.

And she's really happy that you got in touch.

I just can't believe you're saying this to me.

I can't describe how much it means to me.

It means so, so much.

And she's happy?

-Would you like to see a picture?

-Oh!

You sure?

Oh, my God!

-Oh, she's beautiful.

-[Davina] Isn't she lovely?

I have got a letter.

Here.

I'll take the picture.

[Anne] Thank you.

"Dear Anne, this feels like a dream come true.

I can't begin to put on paper the feelings of complete and wonderful joy I felt when I received the news that you had been searching for me.

Believe me, Anne, when I say you have never been far away from my thoughts.

Looking forward to seeing you soon.

Mum."

Oh, Davina!

You all right?

[Anne] We found her!

-Really?

-We found her!

[laughing] -We found her!

-[husband laughs] We found her!

You all right?

The very next day, Anne met Janet for the first time in nearly 50 years.

[sobbing] Oh, darling!

You're beautiful.

Oh.

I thought this day would never come.

And thank you, thank you so much for making it happen.

It was just... there was just something, there's been something missing in my life.

Never stopped loving you, darling, never.

Oh!

[Janet] Can't explain how light my heart is now.

From being heavy for all those years, now it's not anymore.

Really, really looking forward to having my daughter back in my life.

I've always loved you, darling.

I loved you from the moment you were born and I still love you.

I found her, and I will never let her go.

And I'm just so, so, so happy!

It's now been almost a decade since Anne found her mum, and the reunion has affected her more deeply than she could ever have imagined.

[Anne] My mum makes me feel special every time she speaks to me on the phone.

My mum says to me every time we meet, "I love you, darling."

Today, Anne is getting ready to visit her mother Janet.

[Anne] My children will say, "You are like a different person."

They can see a change in me.

Over the years I had a feeling of abandonment and my marriage is failing and looking in the mirror and thinking, I'm not worthy of love, I'm not worthy of being loved by anybody.

And then I found my birth mum... [sniffles] ...and it's just completely changed me as a person... to being more confident, to knowing that I've been loved from the moment I was born.

I'm fine, thank you.

Anne's newfound confidence has even given her love life a boost.

-Right, jump in then.

-Thank you.

[Anne] Finding my mum, she gave me that feeling that I am worthy of love and I do deserve it.

Away we go.

[Anne] And then three years ago, I met the man of my dreams.

As their relationship has developed, Anne and her partner Brian have been to see Janet together.

[Anne] Not long now.

Getting really excited to see her.

-I bet you are.

-I really am, yeah, it's lovely.

But this visit will be different.

[Anne] My mum was so independent.

Always out.

Always organizing everything.

So bubbly and wonderful and just so glamorous.

And then bang.

Two years ago... [doorbell rings] [Janet] Hello.

...something really bad happened.

Nine years after they were reunited, Anne Clegg is at her mum's house for an early Christmas celebration.

Your mother would love to see you.

[Anne] Aw, thank you.

In order to bring them together safely, the family have had Covid tests.

I think this Christmas is probably gonna be one of the most important Christmases for my mum after a terrible two years.

In 2019, Janet suffered a massive stroke.

[Anne] They wasn't sure whether or not she would recover.

It was like, "Please don't take my mum," you know?

You've given her back to me, don't take her yet, I'm not ready for her to go.

I've still got a few more years I wanna spend with her.

Please don't take her.

[sobs] Surprise!

[Janet] Hello, darling.

Oh, I've waited a long time for this.

[Janet] So long.

I love you.

I love you.

Oh, I love you.

I love you so much.

[Janet] I love you too, darling.

So lovely to see you, darling, again.

[Anne] You do look well.

Better than I did in that hospital bed.

Yes, definitely.

You've done so well, Mum.

And I will walk again, I promise you, darling.

-I will walk again.

-I know you will.

Janet has made a significant recovery.

But she is still paralyzed down one side.

[Anne] But she's a fighter, my mum.

She's got everything to live for.

She will not just lay in that bed and give up.

[Janet] I will not let it hold me back.

We'll have lots and lots and lots of really lovely times together.

[Anne] I've got her back in my life and I'm never gonna let her go again.

She's gonna stay in my life forever.

I love you, Anne.

[Anne] I love you.

In the nine years they have had together, Anne and her mum have sped through the entire life cycle of a parent-child relationship.

[Anne] When finding mum nine years ago, it was a feeling of me wanting to have the things that mums do for their children and the love, and I got that.

The whole seven years I had that, and then obviously Mum having a stroke, I felt now I need to be the one that looks after my mum emotionally and make her feel loved and special.

And it's like roles have to reverse.

[Janet] She is very supportive.

She'd ring me every day and cheers me all the time, and if I'm feeling a little bit low, it puts a smile on my face every time I hear her voice.

And many, many years ago, darling, I used to bring the other girls here in the summer, but the family was never complete, darling, because you were always missing.

You were in my heart, but you weren't here beside me.

It's still a while until Christmas, but the family are keen to celebrate together after a difficult few years.

Hello!

Anne has also grown close to Janet's younger daughters, Lorraine, Debbie and Hayley.

When I was, um, reunited with my mum, obviously I got a bonus.

-Lovely to see you.

-Oh, it's great.

Being told that I had three sisters.

And then I thought, "Are they gonna accept me?"

But not one of them made me feel unloved, unwanted.

They made me just feel as if I was a sister.

[laughing] [Hayley] We have always known about Anne.

Er, my mum never hid anything from us.

There was always an empty space.

And now that empty space is filled.

So lovely to have all my girls together.

[Lorraine] She makes my mum really happy.

She brought this big great ray of sunshine into Mum.

Telepathic, aren't we?

[Lorraine] She's so lovely.

And she's so like us.

Oh, it's absolutely amazing to have them all around me.

To hear them all laughing and all the merriment between them.

There's so much love around them all.

Little something from me to you.

-Oh, thank you, darling.

-Merry Christmas.

[Janet] It's as if all those horrible years without Anne didn't exist, it's all gone to the back of my mind now.

[gasps] Oh, God, that's beautiful.

Thank you, darling.

[Janet] My heart is healed now completely.

-Picture.

-[daughter] Oh, I like that.

It was only Anne who could heal it.

But I can smile now.

Anyway, it's lovely to be here with all the family.

[all] Merry Christmas!

The woman in our next story has spent decades hoping to find her missing brother, without realizing just how close she was.

-How much is the plantain, please?

-1.20.

[woman] When a member of your family is missing from your life, you never stop searching.

Thank you very much.

I could be walking past him on the street and I don't know that's my brother.

Grandmother Alice Jones has always lived in South East London.

Hello.

Can you give me a hug, please?

Hello!

[Alice] My parents were both from Jamaica.

Let me have a look at you.

And the reason that they came over was to have a better life.

Alice's parents were among the Windrush migrants.

Like many new arrivals, they'd left their families at home in Jamaica.

[Alice] My parents met on the boat.

They were married, but they were not married to each other, and I was the product of the affair.

Alice's parents briefly set up home together.

But when she was 18 months old, their spouses also travelled to the UK.

[Alice] They were probably thinking, "What are we going to do?

What are we going to tell each other's partner?"

So, we couldn't stay as a family.

The decision was made for Alice to live with her birth father and his wife.

[Alice] This picture is of my stepmum Elfreda Panton, me and my dad.

She's happy because I'm beside her.

My stepmother was amazing.

She took on another woman's child and gave me all her love.

But Alice couldn't forget about the mother she'd been separated from.

[Alice] Can you imagine, 18 months and then you have to give up your child?

Did this lady love me?

Did she want me?

It wasn't until after her birth mother had been widowed that 12-year-old Alice was invited to visit her.

[Alice] I was expecting my birth mother to love me, but she was very cold, very stern.

She must have some feeling.

She gave birth.

Why didn't she come and talk to me?

[sniffles] But there was someone Alice made a connection with.

[Alice] This little cuddly boy was there smiling at me.

He was introduced to me as my younger brother Sam.

We laughed, played games.

There was an instant bond.

But then it was all over in a flash, and I never saw Sam again.

When Alice Jones approached us, she hadn't seen her little brother Sam since they were children.

[Alice] I never, ever forgot about him.

As I've got older, I wonder if I'll ever find him.

Will I ever get to meet my brother again?

[Nicky] We started by trying to trace Alice's birth mother Emily and sadly discovered that she had died.

But luckily the records led us to her brother Sam who was still living in South East London.

Then, Sam told us something extraordinary.

He wasn't the only sibling in the house when Alice had visited.

He has two older brothers, John and Richard.

Alice had no idea about these other siblings.

Richard didn't want to meet on camera.

But I went to Catford to meet Sam and John.

-Oh, hello.

-Sam.

-Hi, Nicky.

-Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you.

Come in.

Thank you.

-Nice to meet you, John.

-[John] All right?

So Alice was looking for you, Sam, and it's a wonderful surprise that you're here, John.

Did you know about her?

[John] We've met her once.

I must have been very small.

Do you remember playing with her?

I don't, to be quite honest.

I am 60 now, so goes back a long way.

I remember the knock on the door and my mum saying, "Oh, it's your sister."

I was like, "Okay, all right."

You can't go too much into detail, otherwise you'll get that look as if to say, "Enough, now."

-Was your mother quite strict?

-Yeah.

Because Dad died, so she had to be mum and dad.

So you step over the line, you felt it.

'Cause when Alice came to see her, Alice felt that she was distant towards her and... -Oh.

-...you were the great bond.

Are you surprised that she remembers very well playing with you and bonding with you?

Yeah, I am surprised, yeah.

Very.

-[John] Is she living in London?

-Peckham.

Serious?

[Sam] It's just up the road.

No, we're...

I'm literally in Peckham.

That's where I live, really.

I've probably passed her dozens of times.

I probably have because Peckham is my area, yeah.

Have you got a photograph?

Thank you.

Oh, okay.

Yeah, she'll do!

Pass.

She'll do nicely, do you know what I mean?

It's my little sister.

Can't wait to meet her now.

-Mm, thank you.

-That's all right, old chap.

[Sam] Yeah, it's time we met this woman.

Oh, yeah, our sister.

Peckham!

[Davina] We told Alice that sadly her mother had passed away, but fortunately, I was also able to give her the good news about her long lost brother.

Alice.

It's Davina.

-[Alice] Hello, Davina.

-Can I come up?

Of course.

We've found him.

Oh, my gosh!

Oh, my gosh!

He was so pleased to hear... -[Alice] How is he?

-...that you'd been looking.

He's great.

Does he want to meet me?

Yeah, he wants to meet you.

And we found somebody else.

-John.

-John?

John.

A brother?

-A brother.

-A brother?!

-An older brother.

-What?!

Yes.

But he really wants to meet you too.

[Alice] Oh, my God!

I knew there was gonna be twist and turns, I said it.

And you've got another brother who would love to meet you.

-Another brother?!

-Richard.

But he'd like to meet you not on camera.

Oh, my goodness!

And your brother John lives in Peckham.

Are you kidding me?

-I just...

I can't believe it.

-It's funny, isn't it?

I've got a picture.

Hang on, let me show you.

-Yeah.

Yeah.

-[Davina laughing] [Alice] I just cannot believe what I'm hearing.

Oh, my gosh!

Bless.

Thank you.

Lovely.

Lovely, lovely.

One week later, Alice was reunited with Sam and John at a pub in Peckham.

Oh, so this is Alice then, yeah?

Mm.

[laughs] -Oh.

-[Sam] There you go.

-Alison.

-Oh, my God!

My brothers!

Oh, my God!

-Hi.

-[laughing] -Lovely, aren't we?!

-[brothers laughing] Hello.

-Here we are then.

-Mm.

[Alice] When they told me that you were found, I got the shock of my life.

-[Sam] You're shaking.

-I... -Don't let me go.

-Okey-dokey.

[Alice] It was such a joyous moment.

Just excited.

I'm shaking now.

I just can't believe that I've met my brothers.

So come on, tell me about our mum.

-Do you have no pictures of her?

-I have.

Wowee!

Yeah.

Do you think I have a resemblance of her?

-You do.

-Look at him smiling.

[both laughing] 'Cause that's what I remember when you was little, smiling.

That's me.

Cor, isn't this a happy day, yeah?

Sure is.

Sure is.

[laughing] It's now been over two years since Alice was reunited with her brothers, and learning about their lives has helped her see their mother in a whole new light.

Alice sees all her brothers regularly, but she and John are closer than anyone could have imagined.

This is my building.

This is where I live.

And John, his building is just over there, practically in front of us.

I could not believe where he lived.

We're just so close.

I feel happy that he's in my life.

A brother that I didn't know that I had.

-Hello, love.

-All right?

How's my baby girl?

-You all right?

-Mm.

John lives alone, so the siblings have formed a bubble and now go for a daily walk together.

It's magic having a sister, you know what I mean?

It's a shame we didn't grow up together, but we're gonna grow old together.

They may not have been brought up together, but Alice and John do have a shared childhood experience.

When my parents left me in Jamaica, I was two years old.

When I come here, I didn't really know my parents.

They were completely strangers to me.

Didn't recognize them really.

The fracturing of families was a common and traumatic feature of Windrush immigration.

John didn't join his mother in the UK until he was 13.

[Alice] When I heard that John also didn't grow up with my biological mother, I felt kind of sad.

John told me that she was a very hard worker, sending money back home to her older children.

But she missed out on years, that motherly love.

-Look at that.

-Mm.

-[Alice] It's a lovely, lovely statue.

-[John] Yeah, I know.

That symbolizes mum when she left you in Jamaica.

-Yeah.

-And also probably the last time she's lifted me up.

You know, it must have been hard for her.

It's got to be.

These revelations about her mother's experience have had a deep impact on Alice.

[Alice] Learning about my mother's story, I don't feel rejected anymore.

She was in difficult circumstances.

She just couldn't have all of her children together.

I am at peace because she did what she had to do, what she thought was right.

Alice's new understanding of their mother's struggle has inspired her to involve her brothers in a family project.

-All right, guys?

-Hello.

-All right, guys.

Come in.

-Put the kettle on then.

My birth mother hasn't got a headstone, and I said to my brothers that we should do something to remember her by.

Is there something on there that you like?

I prefer the black granite.

-[Alice] Than the white marble?

-Than the white marble, yeah.

[Alice] Okay.

As the baby of the family, Sam is the only child who grew up with their mother in London.

[Sam] Because I was born in the UK, me and my mum were close.

It's nice to do something as a tribute.

[Alice] What color lettering?

Gold lettering.

[John] Yeah, I think she'd love that, actually.

-Sounds good to me.

-Sounds good to me.

[Sam] My mother was a very good, strong, solid woman.

I'm very proud of her, to be quite honest.

[Alice] This is absolutely beautiful.

Yeah, that's your grandma there, Natty.

It's beautiful.

[Alice] Hope she's happy.

I think she'd be pleased.

Very pleased.

Yeah, that's what it's all about.

I think she missed not having all her children with her, but if you wanna make a better life, you've got to make sacrifices, and that's exactly what she did to get us to where we are now.

[Alice] Hello, Mum.

Hope you like the flowers.

I hope that she's looking down, happy that I've found my family.

When the woman in our next story approached us looking for her birth mother, she already had an inkling of why she'd been adopted, but no idea of what she would go on to find.

We're going on the fair.

On the merry-go-round.

Grandmother Sharon Hearte was adopted as a baby and grew up the youngest of nine siblings.

[Sharon] I had a happy childhood.

Love all around me.

I grew up knowing I was adopted.

All my siblings were white.

I knew there was a difference 'cause obviously I was a different color.

Sharon was told that her birth mother was a white woman from Smethwick called Barbara, who already had a daughter from a previous marriage.

It's a strange feeling inside to think she's walked around here.

It feels like I'm walking in her footsteps.

In 1957 Sharon's mother had a brief relationship with her birth father, who was from Jamaica.

[Sharon] It was the '50s.

My mum was white and my dad was black.

In those days women experienced horrible things just being unmarried mothers, but having a black man's baby, people would shun her for that.

White women used to get spat on for going with a black man.

I just pictured my mum being so sad.

With no help, had no one.

I need to find her.

I need to tell her that I don't hold anything against her.

Sixty years after she was given up for adoption, Sharon Hearte asked us to find her birth mother, Barbara.

[Sharon] The older I've got, the urge has just got stronger and stronger.

She's my mum.

And I just feel in my heart that connection.

[Nicky] We took on the search and tracked down Barbara's birth record, which revealed her maiden name to be Dickson.

And that's when we made a tragic discovery.

A search for Barbara Dixon revealed that she'd passed away in 2010.

Sharon is never gonna have a chance to meet her birth mum.

But we also know that Barbara had another daughter before Sharon.

So what happened to her?

Stirchley, please.

[Nicky] We found a possible sister, a Carol Dixon, born at the right time.

She replied to our letters and revealed that there were three more sisters: Terry, Bev and Sandra.

Bev didn't want to appear on camera, but Carol and the others agreed to meet me.

-Hi.

-This is Terry.

-Terry.

How are you?

-Hiya.

-This is our Carol.

-Carol, how are you?

Very nice to meet all of you.

Right, so we've got Sandra and Terry and Carol.

How does it all fit together?

Naturally you can see I'm from a different dad, you know.

My mum and dad split.

Right.

And me nan and gran have brought me up.

So Sharon fits where, then, in the timeline?

Sharon's in between our Carol and myself.

And so Mum's had a relationship in between our two fathers.

Did you know about Sharon?

I knew that there was, er, a sister.

Spoke a few times to Mum about it, but she wanted to keep it secret.

I think it was protecting the younger ones.

[Nicky] Have you got a picture of your mum?

-[Carol] Yeah.

-[Nicky] So that's your dad?

Yeah.

They went through a lot.

Mum had lost a lot of friends and family and everything, hadn't she, because of being with a black man.

-Really?

-Yeah.

And called all sorts of names and spat at, and I remember a brick coming through the door.

-A brick?

-Yeah, through the front door.

And if Mum's on her own, and, um, Sharon came along, to have all that.

That's why I suppose she felt like it was the only option is to give Sharon a good home to somebody else.

I'm just hoping that Mum made the right decision for her.

But, you know, we can't wait to welcome her because we just want her now, we wanna see her, see what she looks like.

-Yeah.

-Yeah.

Awwww!

Oh, she looks lovely.

-That's our sister.

-[laughing] Oh.

Wow.

[laughs] It's just such a shame Mum's not here.

But she's got us now, ain't she?

-Yeah.

-Yeah?

-All Mum's daughters.

-Oh.

[Davina] We told Sharon that her mother had passed away off camera.

But fortunately I did have some unexpected news... -Hey, Sharon.

-Hi, Davina.

Are you all right?

...that I hoped would give her comfort.

-How have you been?

-Sad.

Mm.

Would you like to see a picture of your mum?

Yeah.

Oh, gosh!

It's my mum.

And I've always wondered what she looked like.

Wow!

I look so much like her, don't I?

Just thinking, I hope she used to think about me.

She did.

How do you know?

Well, you've got four sisters.

Four sisters?!

[laughs] Wow!

Do they-- did they know about me all along?

So your older sister is called Carol.

She always knew about you.

There's the three of your sisters.

Oh, my gosh.

[Davina] Carol, Terry and Sandra.

Wow!

My sisters.

They really can't wait to tell you all about your mum and her life.

[Sharon] That's so lovely.

We've got the same blood, you know.

My sisters.

I can't wait to see them.

The following week, the sisters met at the pub where their mother worked for 15 years.

Oh!

[sobbing] God, you're all beautiful.

This is fantastic.

Thank you.

-Oh, dear.

-[kisses] -I'm just really glad you wanted to meet me.

-Of course, of course.

[Terry] There's no way we wouldn't.

I'm here to stay.

You're not getting rid of me.

-[Carol] Brilliant.

-Yes!

[Sharon] It just felt like they were accepting me straight away.

Like I belong.

I felt like I belong.

I know it's mad, but I feel like I've always known her.

It's like she's been away.

And now she's come home.

[Sharon] I may not have got to meet my mum, but I've got myself four beautiful sisters.

It's now been nearly three years since Sharon met her sisters and they've already supported each other through the best and the worst of times.

-[Sharon] That all right, sis?

-Yeah, that's lovely.

[Sharon] The relationship with my sisters is like we've never been apart.

We've got an amazing bond.

-[Sandra] Not eating them, are you?

-Yep.

[laughs] Today, Sharon's round at Sandra's house where the sisters are all meeting for a special occasion.

[Sandra] We're celebrating.

It's three sisters' birthdays this month so it's a triple whammy.

How many do we need?

-Sixty-four.

-[laughs] The sisters have been Covid tested so they can meet safely.

[Sharon] Ooh, somebody at the door, sis.

Ahhhhhh!

Hello, sis.

-Mmm!

-[laughter] -Sis!

-All right, girl.

Ooh, how lovely to see you.

Come on, we're having a party.

[all laughing] [Terry] We've lost the last 12 months because nobody can see each other, can you, can't travel.

So it's gonna be brill.

[laughing] It's gonna be brill.

Can't wait.

[knock on door] -Ahhhh!

-Hiya, ma'am!

Mwah!

-[laughs] -I miss you.

-[pops] -[sisters shout, laugh] Oh, this is great to be back together again.

It's lovely.

Oh, our mum, wouldn't she have loved it?

Just to see us all together, she'd have absolutely loved it, wouldn't she?

-[Terry] Yeah, she would.

-Cheers to Mum, girls.

-Cheers.

-Cheers.

-Cheers to Mum.

-Mum.

I'm here at last.

[Sharon] I still get upset that I never got to meet Mum.

But the girls have answered a lot of things.

I even found out that, er, my mum used to come and see me.

She knew the family and she knew her baby was gonna be loved.

That made me feel wonderful.

Yeah, it did.

But it hasn't all been celebrations.

Me and Craig.

You can see us smiling there.

And I remember how we felt and we had such a good time.

I've lost my partner, Craig, in October.

Twenty-five years we were together.

Dreadful.

Dreadful.

Yeah.

Sorry.

Because of the pandemic, she wasn't allowed to go to the hospital.

It's just not right, is it?

It's sad.

Very sad.

Poor Craig.

To go in there alone.

I'm gonna miss him so much.

It was horrific, I can't tell you how bad it was.

I just can't.

Not being able to visit your loved ones when they need you the most in the hospital.

I love you, sis.

If she needs to cry, she knows she can cry her eyes out.

Um, we're there for her.

That's what sisters, you know, are for.

The sisters now want to do something in remembrance.

[Sharon] I'm a great believer myself in little rituals that can help you with the grief.

Today we're gonna write messages for our loved ones that we've lost with a flower.

It would be nice for Terry to write a little message for Craig.

[Terry] "To Craigie.

We love you."

[Sharon] For me, it's a chance to just put down in words some of the things I would have liked to have said to mum.

There's nothing to forgive.

"Rest in peace.

Love and miss you so much."

[Sandra] We give one another strength.

It means everything to us to be able to grieve together.

[Terry] Losing people, it's just horrible, so we have to hang on to the ones we've got.

I feel blessed that I've got such good sisters at my side.

[Sharon] Oh, God, sis, don't cry.

[Carol] All right, sis, come on, come on.

[Sharon] Even though we've only known each other for a very short period of time, we've gone through a lot.

We've had happy times, very sad times.

I am confident that the bond that we've got will last.

We're gonna be there for one another to the end.

[peaceful music playing]