After 30 Years of Wondering, These Two Sisters Finally Got to Meet

When she was just a toddler, Rhonda was adopted and separated from her birth parents and family

FARGO, ND — The holiday season is all about spending time with the ones you love.

But what if your loved one was hundreds of miles away and you’ve only ever heard their voice through the phone?

One woman from West Fargo wanted to change that and after years of struggle, finally met her sister.

“My whole life has changed,” said Rhonda Aselson from West Fargo.

And for Rhonda Aselson, that change happened when she finally got to meet her sister.

When she was just a toddler, Rhonda was adopted and separated from her birth parents and family.

But after years of discovery and loss, that has now all changed.

“And I feel like I just got a big piece back,” Rhonda said.

About nine years ago a Fargo snow storm left her and her husband stuck in the house, without the kids and nothing to do…so looking for her biological family became their afternoon activity.

Facebook seemed to have the answers she was looking for.

“Oh my gosh. I have this sister that I had only heard rumors about,” Rhonda said.

Amy Whitney. Her sister. her biological sister, 15 years younger and lives in Canada.

She was out in the world and Facebook seemed to prove that.

“And so when she emailed back and she was like are you the Rhonda our aunt Barbara told us about? Do you have a son named Jaime? And I was like oh my god there she is,” Rhonda said.

Over the years, Rhonda’s adopted and biological parents had passed and Amy was her only family left.

“Just the last six months we’ve gotten really close and we kind of just said, it’s time we have to meet,” Rhonda said.

Both sisters didn’t have a passport but by September Amy was set to come to the US and Las Vegas was their chosen destination.

“It was unreal. I knew about her 30 years ago and so I’ve been waiting 30 years to see her,” Rhonda said.

The connection was instant.

“Oh my gosh we has so much fun. She’s my mini me. Everything that she likes is the same things that I like. We finish each other’s sentences, she won’t eat mushrooms she doesn’t like the texture, either will I. Her favorite scents are vanilla and Hawaiian breeze and every time we sat down at a restaurant we both ordered the same exact thing,” Rhonda said.

Both sisters say finding one another was the only gift they could have asked for this holiday season.

“My Christmas is done. I’ve been waiting a long time to meet her. My whole life has changed ya know from this day going forward I have a sister and I have three nieces and a nephew and I am going to be going to Canada and she’s going to be coming here,” Rhonda said.

The trip gave them a chance to do things they never were able to do…like getting matching tattoos.

Like the famous Lilo and Stich quote “Ohana means family, family means no gets left behind”, these sisters are sticking side by side.

“Sister, sister, sister, because we never got to say it. She wasn’t raised with a sister and neither was I,” Rhonda said.

And although it was tough to say goodbye.

“It was really hard leaving her,” Rhonda said.

They now have things they will continue to do forever.

“It was just like this instant bonding love so I am so excited for the future like I haven’t been for a long time,” Rhonda said.

Rhonda has plans to meet her sister in Canada in the spring.