After growing up in dozens of foster homes, this man found peace in Nova Scotia

It took 61 years, but Josh Gavel finally has a family and lives in a place that he can truly call home.

The Smiths Cove, N.S., resident was born in the province, but by the age of 16, he'd already lived with 27 different foster families and in five different institutions. He later met his birth mother, but she didn't want to have a relationship with him. 

Gavel settled in B.C., but never gave up hope that he'd one day have a family.

He met the love of his life in 1989 in Victoria and they've been together ever since, but something was always missing for Gavel.

"I didn't belong to anybody and I had an incredibly strong drive to belong to family and I just kept trying," he said.

Gavel's husband, Brian Ritchie, understood where Gavel was coming from. He, too, was given up for adoption, but he'd reconnected with his birth family while maintaining a strong relationship with his adoptive family.

"It was tough for me because of the fact I had two families that loved me and he didn't even have one. That affected me and I certainly saw the longing in him," said Ritchie.

"It was a very common theme over the years."

In 2005, the B.C. residents came to Nova Scotia for a vacation. While passing through the Digby area, Gavel, who knew some of the names of his family members in the area, decided to look them up.

His birth mother was no longer alive, but Gavel stopped at a tourist information booth and asked if the person knew one of his cousins. The worker told him that she literally worked across the street.

Annual vacations to Nova Scotia followed and Gavel met more and more family members.

Finally moving home

Last year, Gavel and Ritchie moved here full time.

"Brian thought maybe I should have an opportunity to get to know my birth family because he was adopted and he got to meet his birth family at the age of 29, so he's had, like, 30 years of knowing them and bonding with them and he thought it was really important for me to experience that," said Gavel.

Visits and dinners with members of his family have become a regular occurrence and Gavel's become friends with many of the 40 or so members of his extended family that decades ago he had no idea would become a part of his life.

One of those people is Betty Winchester — Gavel's first cousin. Their mothers were sisters. 

Winchester said meeting Gavel has resulted in a lot of wow moments.

"He has told me things and showed me things that I wouldn't have otherwise known," she said.

In forging a friendship with Gavel, she's learned a lot about her grandmother and aunt, which has helped fill in the pieces about her family history.

Gavel said he feels different living in Nova Scotia. He's settled, grounded and relaxed.

"The longing is gone," he said.

It's something that Ritchie sees, as well.

"He doesn't yearn to be able to have family over for dinner any more because we can now just pick up the phone and invite somebody over or stop in and see somebody," said Ritchie.