I'd given up hope of finding my mother'

Continued...One day, only a couple of months ago now, Rodney phoned me sounding excited and said he had good news. He had discovered that my mother, Margaret, had married again in 1935 and what's more, she'd had three children.

I was flabbergasted to think there was someone out there who was a living connection to my mother.

A couple of days later, Rodney phoned again. He said, "Guess what George, I've been talking to your nephew, Timothy." I nearly fell out of my chair. "He was a bit aghast when he heard that he had an uncle, but he has agreed to talk to his father," Rodney continued. "His name is David and he lives in Rutland." Obviously finding out that your mother had an illegitimate child when she was a teenager can come as a bit of a surprise, so when Timothy told David about me he was a little sceptical at first. But he rang round his relatives and an aunt admitted to him that Margaret had revealed the existence of her long-lost son before she died.

David agreed he would come down from Rutland the following weekend and before I knew it, my long lost half-brother was standing at my door. We both have a bit of our mother's Greek looks about us so it was obvious we were related. He dived in and clasped me and we both got emotional.

We shared our histories and David told me a great deal about what sort of person my mother was. She was apparently very caring. After her second marriage in 1935 she had retrained as a psychiatric nurse. All the time we were talking, sitting side by side, he would not let go of my hand.

We also discovered that we had the same sense of humour, and before the day was out he not only gave me a photo of my mother but a lock of her hair too. To never know what your mother looks like and then, at the age of 90, to be given a photo of her is a feeling I cannot put into words. Before he left I asked him, "David, this is not just going to be a one-off is it?" To my relief he assured me it wasn't.

Finding my family has lifted me up. When you live in a small retirement flat on your own it makes all the difference in the world to know you have family outside the four walls around you. I have something to think about and plans to make. If I want to talk to someone, I can phone them. I've got a laptop now and have learned to email, which is useful because I have relations all over the place to catch up with, including another half-brother in Australia called Peter. His son has just had a boy so there's another family member to think of.

Some people say it's a shame we were not reunited all those years ago, that it's such a waste. I say better late than never. End.

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