Man Takes DNA Test & Discovers Brother Was Right in front of His Face for 60 Years
Hawaii always seems so magical. I had a friend in college — in Virginia — who was born and raised in Hawaii. The way he described it always sounded so magical and made-up.
From my understanding, Hawaii is just a plane ride away. This means the years I spent trying find magical wardrobes that could lead to this place were all for naught.
In the back of my head I’ve always thought that maybe my family or best friend and I would go visit it.
Maybe we would stay forever, living on the beach and making our money amusing fellow tourists with our witty stories.
The friend I would take with me is more than a friend, he is family. You know the type.
“He is like a brother to me.” We have all had that friend we can say that about, don’t we? At age 40 I can look back and pinpoint several friendships like that, all stemming from my college years.
Well, the magic of Hawaii apparently extends to family for others, as Alan Robinson and Walter Macfarlane can attest.
They were born 15 months apart and have known each other since 6th grade. They’ve spent a lifetime playing cribbage together. And who doesn’t like a story of a tearful family reunion?
The two men have known each other for 60 years. Robinson was adopted and MacFarlane never had the chance to know his father.
Driven by curiosity, MacFarlane signed up for a DNA ancestry test. Sitting with his daughter, he was struck by a username which had an exact X chromosome match with him: Robi737.
Robinson’s nickname was Robi and he flew 737s for Aloha Airlines. On a hunch, MacFarlane contacted his friend and discovered he was using the same ancestry service.
After phone calls back and forth they realized they shared a birth mother. Shocked by the news they compared hairy forearms, which was the clincher for them.
Robinson said, “Yea it was shock, definitely. And then we thought about it and compared forearms.”
“Yea hairy arms,” said MacFarlane, “that did it!”
At a party just before Christmas, they revealed the news to friends and family. In many ways it was just a confirmation of what always was, as Robinson said “This guy was, he was like an older brother all along.”
I don’t know if Hawaii is really magical or not. For these two brothers something magical happened in their lives and we can only hope it enriches the lives of them and those around them.
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