Facebook post helps sisters reunite after 30 years apart
Rose Totus of Vancouver Island said her family never explained why her sister was adopted out of her family
For 30 years, Rose Totus of the Cowichan Tribes wondered what happened to her sister Alicia.
Her younger sister was adopted and taken away from their home on Vancouver Island when Totus was five and Alicia was three years old respectively.
Totuts says she always wondered what had happened to her sister. Finally, on Thanksgiving Day in 2014, she turned to social media and posted a photo of herself with a poster that stated her sister's birth name, birth date, and where she was adopted from.
The very next day she received a Facebook message from her sister, who now lives in Vancouver.
"It was the moment I waited for my whole life," Totus said, crying to All Points West host Robyn Burns.
No explanation
While that photograph she first posted last year continues to circulate on social media to this day, Totus finally has the answers to the questions she longed to know.
I thought maybe if I just find my sister I can find peace within myself.- Rose Totus
When Alicia was taken away, Totus said her family never explained what had happened.
"I always asked where sister Alicia went. They just said that she wasn't around anymore," said Totus. She and her third sister were later put into foster care.
Totus said that when she got older and understood the process of adoption, she sought help from counsellors and a social worker to find Alicia, but was turned away.
"They just kept telling me over and over again if she wanted to find us it was up to her to do it," she said.
"It wasn't only about my sister, it was about a lot of things that I had no answers to, and I thought maybe if I just find my sister I can find peace within myself."
Reunited at last
Totus said that even though her sister Alicia had changed her name, she was able to remember her birth name, her mother's name, and that she had two sisters.
The two met in person the following month.
"I was really nervous, but I was the happiest person in the world when she asked to meet up with me," Totus said.
"She told me about her life. She's lived a really good life. She has three beautiful children, she served in the navy for 11 years.
"I'm really proud of everything that she's done."
Totus said that her sister hasn't met the rest of her relatives yet, but understands it may be hard for her.
"She wants to meet the rest of the family but she wants to do it on her time, and we have family back home that is ready and waiting to meet with her."
To hear the full interview listen to the audio labelled: A Facebook post helps woman find sister who was adopted out of family 30 years ago.