The 75-year reunion is undoubtedly amazing. Lena and Yolanda, who met when they were young girls traveling across the ocean for 14 days, most definitely experienced that recently.
On a boat in Saturnia, they happened to meet, and they hit it off right away. In April 1947, they immigrated to America with their Italian families.
Steve, Lena’s son, looked for their mother’s friend for a number of years. Now 85 years old, Lena. Yolanda was the name of the sailor friend she always recalled. Steve then went in pursuit of his companion, who had vanished into memory. Steve, who would have been 84 if still alive, kept looking for his missing companion.
Fortunately, Yolanda was still around, and the two girls had spent their entire lives apart by only 2.5 hours.
Steve located Yolanda’s address and left a note asking her to meet a childhood acquaintance. Rich, Yolanda’s son, drove his mother from Weirton, West Virginia to Lena’s house in Meadville, Pennsylvania, where they cried with joy and gave each other a hug as they greeted each other at the door.
They jammed as many stories about their lives into a little afternoon dinner, and it was delightful to hear them share their individual memories of their trip to Saturnia.
They agreed to get together again after a few months in the hopes of spending more time together because the 75-year-old reunion was so incredible.
Making new friends in your senior years, let alone reestablishing relationships with existing ones, is not always simple. Additionally, the National Archives can aid in locating a long-lost friend and your most recent travels.
