I love happy endings

Did you read about the Chinese boy Luo Gang, who was kidnapped at the age of five and sold to a family in another part of China? What impressed me about Luo was how, once he realised that he wasn't going home, he made an effort to remember as many details as possible about his childhood in the hope that one day he could use them to find his way home. Twenty three years later, through a website called "Baby Come Home", he was reunited with his birth family.

You can read the whole story here on the BBC website.

This touching account reminded me of my friend George, who was reunited recently with his son Rob after 22 years' separation. Although their story isn't as dramatic, the background was almost as tragic. George split up with his wife when his son was two years old.  His wife returned to her home in Wales six years later and from that time on George wasn't allowed to see his son.  Although he didn't speak much about it, I know how much this hurt him. 

In July this year George received a letter from his son, who had been trying to trace him for a long while. In August they were reunited and George discovered that he had a daughter-in-law and grandson as well as his son. Luckily they all got on well together and George and his new family spent Christmas together for the first time since his son was two years old.

I find it incredibly sad when, after parents split up, children are no longer allowed to see their fathers (or in a few cases their mothers). No matter what happens between a man and his wife, the children should not be involved in their parents' differences. These two stories show how children will remain loyal to their parents even when separated from them for years. Luo made a determined effort to remember his parents and clearly Rob didn't forget his father either.

For me, these were two of the happiest stories of 2013 - and I do love happy endings!