Brother, sister reunited after 32 years
A brother and sister who were separated for more than 30 years had a happy reunion in Peterborough this week.
Bill Murray, a 55-year-old truck driver from P.E.I., was in the city visiting his sister, Rose Murray, 48.
She lives in Peterborough. Three are estrangements in the family; relatives aren’t very close and no one seemed to know where Bill had moved.
But after searching for years, Rose recently found a relative who had Bill’s phone number. When she got that number, Rose immediately called.
“As soon as I heard the voice, I knew it was her,” said Bill. Then they both burst into tears.
Bill and Rose are half-siblings. They have the same father. But they were very close as kids and never refer to one another as half-siblings.
Nonetheless, they drifted far apart over the years. They say family relationships are rocky and relatives live scattered across Canada.
Much of the family is on Vancouver, for instance, while Bill has lived for years in P.E.I.
Bill says he last saw Rose at his wedding in Toronto, in 1984. Rose was 17 at that time, and living in foster care in Kitchener.
Newlyweds Bill and Linda Murray stayed in Toronto for a couple of years, then moved to Bancroft.
Meanwhile, Rose moved to Peterborough to work as a hotel housekeeper.
In Bancroft, Bill took a job driving for a trucking company that sent him regularly to Peterborough.
He would drive loads of car parts from the Ventra Plastics manufacturing plant on Technology Dr. to their shipping department on Monaghan Rd.
All the while, he was longing for Rose – but he had no idea she lived in Peterborough.
At that time, Rose was looking for Bill too.
In desperation one day, she travelled to Toronto to knock on the door of his old home. But he’d long since moved, leaving no forwarding address.
When she scoured Facebook, Rose didn’t find her brother. He didn’t have a profile.
“You put in his name, and all you find is that comedian, Bill Murray,” she said, laughing.
Bill was working the same angle: He recently asked his 28-year-old niece to look for Rose on Facebook.
A profile for Rose turned up. Messages were exchanged via Facebook and Rose was given a phone number for Bill.
They met this summer, in Port Hope. Bill was travelling through on business and Rose arranged to go meet him there.
They met in Peterborough again this week, as Bill was again driving a truck through the city.
Next week, he’s on holiday. He and Linda plan to return to Peterborough with the family van to see Rose again.
Bill says he thinks nothing of driving here from the East Coast, simply to see his sister. He drives for a living.
“It’s not even a hardship,” he said. “It’s all good, for me.”