G King

I never knew my father who had an extra-marital affair with my mother in the late 40's, and I didn't even find out about it until I was well into my thirties and then my mother only told me his name, what he did, where he lived - basic information. I knew nothing else about him and never felt inclined to track him down. Three years ago, we needed an electrician and after 2 or 3 electricians failed to return calls, a friend gave us a name and a young man came to the house. When we asked his name to write a cheque he gave it, and I jokingly asked 'you don't know (father's name) do you? And he replied - yes my grandfather. I asked where he'd lived (right location), how old he was (right age), what he did (right profession). It turned out this young man was the grandson of my biological father, after we both (discreetly in his case as his grandmother was still alive) confirmed this was the case. We finally met my half brother, and the other siblings of my new nephew - the electrician, and during that meeting, we were having a conversation about a cottage we owned in Cornwall, and that they as a young family had spent time in Cornwall - he went and retrieved a photo album, opened it up, and pointed to where they had stayed as children. It was our cottage - about ten years before we had purchased it from the National Trust when it was a holiday cottage. And there they were, my half brother, three nephews and a niece hanging out of the upstairs bedrooms of our cottage. A double whammy coincidence.