Tragedy tore their family apart, and now he’s reuniting with his long-lost brothers he’s missed. This beautiful story of redemption has God’s fingerprints written all over it. His hands mark the testament of time and closes seventy-seven years of distance.
At the age of 83, Ted Nobbs assumed he and his long-lost brothers John and Barry would never get to reunite with their youngest brother, Geoff.
They had a beautiful family that was tragically ripped at the seams when their mother died of cancer in her thirties. Their father was working as an engineer, and he felt he couldn’t care for the toddler. So, in hopes of giving Geoff a better life, he was lovingly given up for adoption. He was adopted, and the family moved to Australia.
“My dad was working, he was an engineer. He just couldn’t bring up a baby and just thought it better to give him to someone else,” he said.
Man Searches For The Long-Lost Brothers He Misses
The yearning to find the family ties that bind prodded Ted to reunite with his brothers and attempt to find Geoff. Sadly, his brother John passed away before the siblings could reunite. John’s passing seemed to spur the siblings to look a little harder for Geoff.
In God’s great goodness, they managed to find Geoff after seventy-seven years! They were no longer little boys with chubby cheeks and scraped knees but grandfatherly men with white hair and aged skin that marked the passage of time.
The three brothers were able to reunite for the first time on Skype. This began a series of regular calls to catch up and share their lives. Soon plans were underway to meet in person. Ted’s wife and son planned a surprise visit from their long-lost brother for Ted’s 80th birthday, but Covid-19 had put the brakes on the reunion.
But Geoff still managed to get online for a video chat to wish Ted a happy birthday.
It seems like timing is everything these days. And it must be the same for this crew of siblings. Ted will be flying to Australia to meet Geoff and his eight children. Not only will he meet Geoff and his family in person, but Ted will also be celebrating the wedding bliss of Geoff’s granddaughter too!
When he was asked about the long-awaited reunion, Ted replied in a way brothers always do. “Geoff hasn’t filled me in on a lot about his life out there. To be honest, when we’re chatting, we’re usually ribbing one another about the cricket or ruggers.” That sounds like brotherly love to me!
What a beautiful and blessed way to reconnect and honor the ties that bind.
“Not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near,” Hebrews 10:25.