After four decades of searching, a Michigan woman traveled thousands of miles to Southwest Florida to meet the family she never knew she had.
At 67 years old, Denise Henry is having breakfast with her three siblings for the first time.
It's a typical Sunday morning at Mel's Diner in Fort Myers, and families are having breakfast together like they always do.
But for one family, it's a reunion 41 years in the making.
NBC2 takes you on an emotional journey to uncover a woman's past, and what lies ahead for her future.
Uncovering the past
Dorn Beddow, the youngest sister, remembers when her family moved to Florida from Michigan in her teens.
She recalls finding her mom on the front porch swing, crying. Finally, she admitted a secret she had tried to keep hidden for years.
"We were just sitting on the swing having coffee one night, and she's like, she wanted to tell me something. When she was a teenager, she had gotten pregnant," said Dorn.
Dorn said she ran to the bathroom and wrote down all the details she could remember to help her find her adopted older sister.
Confiding in her older sister Shar Beddow, Dorn told her the story of their half-sister.
But Shar already knew the story.
Shar had found her mom crying in the kitchen when she was 16 on April 10, Denise's birthday, years before.
Caption: Shirley Beddow (right) on her wedding day with her parents.
The sisters told their youngest sibling, a brother, Keith Beddow, they had a half-sister.
This sparked the over four-decade-long search to find her.
The search begins
After years of scouring through adoption and family lineage sites, Dorn convinced her older sister, Shar Beddow, to complete a DNA test on 23andMe 15 years ago. Just last year, Shar had found a match.
"That's when the DNA latched, and we knew we had found her," said Shar.
Denise explained that she did the DNA test to research her medical history. Being adopted, she never knew who or where she came from.
After finding Denise's children on Facebook two months ago, Shar gave them undeniable proof that she was their mother's long-lost sister.
Denise admitted that she was too scared at first to be involved.
"I told them things that no one could just know. The name she was given. It was all too personal to just know," said Shar.
After a lot of convincing from her children, Denise finally spoke to her sisters on a three-way call.
"I talked to them for an hour and a half, and it was like I'd known them all my life," said Denise.
The eldest sister wiped tears from her eyes when asked about what it felt like when she finally found her biological family.
"I didn't even know that anyone was looking for me, let alone that anyone would find me," said Denise as she blotted her face with a napkin.
The reunion
Denise flew from Oklahoma to Florida to meet the family she never knew.
As she came down the escalator at Southwest International Airport, Denise never could have guessed what was waiting for her.
Dorn, Shar, and a few of their friends were dressed as dinosaurs and unicorns at baggage claim.
"Well, a couple of cocktails were involved. And then I saw the shenanigans, and I thought surely..." said Denise.
And sure enough, it was. Her forever herd.
After spending a few days in Southwest Florida, Denise learned more about her siblings and her mother, Shirley.
They bonded over mimosas and talked about how they always just missed each other.
"Whether I was just traveling for work, or Denise was visiting Florida for vacation, we found out that we were always so close to meeting," said Dorn.
Denise has plans to return to Florida each year and introduce her husband, children, and grandchildren to their biological family.