After 35 years of wishing, dreaming and searching, being told my long-lost brother had been found was music to my ears
Folk singer’s emotional journey looking for her sibling
As folk singer Mischa MacPherson travelled the world to perform, she often found herself searching the faces of crowds hoping she might come across her long-lost brother.
The award-winning singer grew up knowing her dad had an older son in Germany who he had lost contact with years before she was born. Now, 35 years after her dad last saw his firstborn child, Mischa’s fame as one of Scotland’s most successful Gaelic singers led to her finding the brother she had dreamed of meeting all her life. Earlier this year, her dad Lachie was reunited with Sascha, 37, the son he feared he’d never see again. And Mischa, who also has a younger brother, Ruari, 22, and sister, Daisy, 11, hopes their story will encourage other fami l ies to never give up hope of being reunited with lost loved ones. The 25-year- old, who in 2014 won BBC Radio 2’ s Young Folk Awards and was named Gaelic Singer of the Year at the Scottish Traditional Music Awards Scottish Traditional Music Awards, said: “I always believed one day I would meet Sascha – although I imagined we would meet by complete chance. “Last December, I was in India and ended up being just one of two passengers on a boat. “When I heard the other passenger speak, I realised he was German and about the same age as Sascha. I thought, ‘Oh my goodness – this is him’. “Another time I was on a bus in Ghana and I was sure a European guy I saw would be him too. “I would start ac onv er conversation, find out their name and when I realised,rea of course, it wasn’t Sascha, I would tell them about the brotherbroth I was looking forfor, in the hope thethey maybe knew of hhim. “II’ve had a lot of fafalse alarms – espeespecially on trips to GeGermany. “WWherever I was travetravell ing, it was alwayalways at the back of my mimind that I might find him.him “To have finally found hhim now is really a dream come true.” GrowingGrowi up on the Isle of Lewis, Mischa always knew sshe had an older half-brother, born while her dad was a soldier serving in Germany.
As a little girl, she would tell her school friends and teachers she had a brother who lived abroad. But behind her proud boasts was deep family sadness.
Her dad had been married to Sascha’s mum, Christine, but their marriage broke down when their son was just three. Lachie returned to Scotland, losing contact with his firstborn child.
As the years passed, Lachie, 61, a hospital manager, failed in his multiple attempts to find Sascha.
Mischa, too, would devote long periods of time searching for her brother.
She said: “We know now the reason we couldn’t find Sascha was because he was brought up by an aunt and had changed his last name.
“When I was younger, I would sit at our computer and try to find him. As I got older I tried Facebook, LinkedIn and other things like that.
“I found one Sascha MacPherson but she’s a woman who lives in Australia.
“Then I started searching for Sascha Goebel, his mum’s maiden name, but it is such a popular name in Germany.”
Mischa’s contacts led to a television company hiring a private investigator in Germany. After months of searching, she not only tracked Sascha down but arranged for him to meet Mischa and their dad.d The television company filmedfilm the emotional reunion in Germany. Ge
TheT crew fol lowed Sascha weekswee later as he travelled to the OuterOut Hebrides to meet the rest of his SScottish family.
Mischa,Mi who has performed in front of crowds of up to 20,000 people, said: “My dad was young when he had Sascha.Sasch He had no idea when he said goodbyegoodby and returned to Scotland that ititwoulwould be the last time he would see him for almost 35 years.
“I grew up always knowing about my older brotherbr but it struck me that, althoughalthoug I often thought about Sascha, he didn’didn’t know I existed.
“SaschaSasc didn’t real ise dad had been such a big part of his life when he was young.
“He had been told a different story – that my dad had left in the middle of the night when he was a baby – so he never thought he had a father out there who would be looking for him, talking about him and telling his other kids about him.
“Then one day, out of the blue, Sascha got a phone call telling him he had a dad, two sisters and a brother, who all wanted to meet him.
“We were all prepared that he might feel angry about dad not being in his life, and not want to know us.
“But he wanted to meet and it was clear from the first minute we met how happy he was.”
A documentary made by the TV company who helped bring Mischa’s family together will be broadcast at 9pm on BBC Alba on Christmas Eve.
A’ Sireadh Sacha, The Search For A Son, records not just the fami ly’s reunion but the close relationships they quickly form.
Sascha said: “I feel very happy. I came to Scotland as a stranger but left as part of a family.”
Mischa, who stays in regular contact with Sascha, says she sees a huge change in her dad.
She said: “Dad and Sascha are so alike, not just how they look but in the things they have done and their mannerisms.
“I never thought of my dad as an emotional person but finding Sascha has meant so much to him – and to us all.”
It struck me that Sascha didn’t know I existed