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PEI

'We glued it back together': Sisters reunite after losing touch for 57 years

After being separated for almost 60 years, two sisters living on opposite sides of the world have been reunited after reconnecting on Facebook.

No matter the reason for separation, reach out and reunite with your family, sisters urge

Eileen Ferguson, left, and Anna Scott are half-sisters who reconnected after 57 years apart. (Angela Walker/CBC)

This summer has been an emotional one for two half-sisters who have been separated for 57 years.

EileenFerguson and Anna Scott live on opposite ends of the globe one in Charlottetown, the other in New Zealand.

But last year, the two reconnected, and this summer Scott visited the Island to spend a month with her rediscovered sister.

"I hadn't seen her since she 18 months old," Ferguson said on CBC's Mainstreet.

Ferguson'smother died when she was two. The familycoped as best they could, Ferguson said. Her father hired a housekeeper who would eventually become his wife.

I hadn't seen her since she 18 months old.- Eileen Ferguson

The couple had children,and the family eventually emigrated to Torontofrom England.

FromToronto, theymoved to Newfoundland.

When Ferguson was 16, her family movedtoNew Zealand, but she said she didn't want to go and remained in Canada.

"Things were a little muddled up and they left eventually for New Zealand and we lost touch," she said.

Fast forward several decades whenFergusonstartedusingFacebookto reconnect with her family. She found twoother sisters before discovering Anna Scott, whom she callsMindy, and the two slowly started chatting.

'We just hung on to each other'

The two continued to chat throughFacebookand discovered they had a lot in common.

We just clicked, it was just amazing.- Anna Scott

After a while, Fergusontravelled to New Zealand to meet her half-sister and herfamily.

"When she came to the door I did myMindydance," Scottlaughed before getting more serious. "We spent 57 years apart but it was like we had never spent a day apart. We just clicked, it was just amazing."

The reunion was emotional, she said.

"We just hung onto each other."

Both sisters say things just fell into place between them, once they were finally able to meet in person. (Angela Walker/CBC)

The trip took on more meaning as Ferguson started meetingrelatives of her mother she discovered during her search for her family.

"My mother died when I was an infant and I had never known any of her family," Ferguson said.

A year after their initial meeting, Scotttravelled to P.E.I. to meet Ferguson'sfamily.

The sisters spent a month together and both said things just fell into place between them.

"I knew about her all my life and when we met she was just my big sister," Scott said.

'We've got our future'

The two sisters are now urgingothers who have lost touch with family, for whatever reason, to put differences aside and reunite.

"Sorry is a small word," Ferguson said.

"We made a pact that the past was the past and we couldn't change it, we couldn't do a thing about it. We've got our future. Weglued it back together."

With files from Mainstreet