In life, you never know who you may come across.
You could call it fate or a blessing.
“We met [Teresa] at an outreach event. Ever since then she sort of took to us. We were just sitting down one day and she just told us her story,” said Tarnesha Kegler, first lady of praise tabernacle church in Kingstree.”
Nearly 40 years ago, Teresa Thomas left New Jersey, leaving behind her parents and seven children.
Thomas landed first in Miami and then in Kingstree where she now resides.
“I just felt like I shouldn’t live no more, because I didn’t have no family no more,” Thomas mentioned.
Shortly after meeting Thomas, Kegler along with the help of her church set out to find Thomas’ family.
“I was determined at that point. i was going to find…didn’t know how I was going to do it,” Kegler said.
She went through different agencies along with using social media.
A year of searching and praying went by with no luck and coupled with the fact Teresa lost much of her memory five years ago after a bad accident.
However, it wasn’t until two weeks ago when what at first looked like another failed lead led to a breakthrough.
“A gentleman answers the phone. I asked him did he know Teresa Thomas…he said ma’am you talking about my mother. And it must’ve dawned on him because he said that can’t be true because my mother is dead,” Kegler explained.
For 27 years, Thomas’ family thought she was dead.
“They are looking for the death certificate,” said Kegler.
“My own sister i didn’t even know who she was,” Thomas added.
On Friday, years of faith and love ended in a reunion that brought Thomas and her family back together.
Thomas had clue that her part of her family that now lives in Atlanta was arriving.
“I have my mom again and I have somebody to call my mom because it’s like I don’t want to let her go. I haven’t hugged my mom in 30 years so holding her again feels good,” said Teresa’s daughter Kimberly Thomas.
Teresa will live with her family in Atlanta and she’ll get a chance to reconnect with all her family at a reunion next month.
