Resident at Oaklands Rest Home in Marchwood has 'very special' reunion with sister she had not seen in five years

A CARE home in Marchwood helped bring about an emotional Christmas reunion between two sisters.

Ina Abram (69), who lives at Oaklands Rest Home in the village, said it was "very special to us both" to meet sister Maureen Anderson (70) again after five years apart.

The siblings, who had been close throughout their lives, lost touch after moving to different care homes.

The emotional meeting came about after Ina’s daughter Michelle discovered Maureen was living at Lindhurst, a newly built care facility in Bordon, Hampshire, and got in touch to arrange the meeting.

Ina said: "It was really really lovely to see Maureen. She is a lovely sister and we have always been very close throughout our lives.

"It was very emotional. We have always spent lots of time together – we used to go out a lot and I used to cook for Maureen and our mum at the weekends and we’d all eat together and catch up."

She added: "Maureen was laughing all the time while she was here, it was really lovely to see how happy she was.

"To meet up with her again after so long at Christmas was very special to us both."

Lindhurst’s registered home manager Sarah Perkins accompanied Maureen to visit Ina and witnessed the heart-warming moment the pair, who grew up in Southampton, saw each other again.

Sarah said: "When she saw Ina, Maureen was so happy to see her. It was a really lovely moment to see them together.

“Ina came and gave Maureen a hug and a kiss and it was clear how much the moment meant to both of them. It was really special."

Oaklands manager Nicola Ray added: "Seeing Ina and Maureen reunited after so long was such a touching moment.

"Reliving special memories and creating magical new ones is so important to our residents and we were all delighted to be able to help arrange this meeting."

The sisters plan to keep in touch through face-to-face visits and video calls.