Parkrunners Jonathan and Lisa Mainwaring received a surprising Facebook message (Picture: Supplied)
When Jonathan Mainwaring and his wife Lisa arrived at his uncle’s home in Eccles, Greater Manchester, after a long drive up north, they were greeted with open arms.
A cake had been made for the occasion, and the family spent hours chatting and catching up.
To an outsider, the room full of noise and love would have looked like a typical family party, but it was anything but.
In fact, it was the first time that Jonathan and his sister, Elaine, had met their dad’s side of the family – just a few weeks earlier, they didn’t even know they existed.
The reunion is an extraordinary tale of loss and love – and how a weekend jog, led to finding a family.
Jonathan, now 60, says that, growing up, he knew his dad, Jimmy, who passed away in 2007, didn’t know his family – but there were lots of questions.
Jimmy grew up not knowing who his family were (Picture: Supplied)
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Jonathan says: ‘My dad was put in an orphanage in the Lake District at a very young age – we don’t know exactly when, or why.
‘He ended up in Gordon Boys School, a boarding school in Woking that seemed to take in waifs and strays. He learnt a trade as a tailor and when he was old enough, he left and started work upholstering coach seats.
‘We didn’t know much more than that.’
Despite having no family, Lisa, 50, described Jimmy, her father-in-law, as ‘the epitome of kindness and love’. He went onto get married to Beryl, and they had two children, Jonathan, and his sister, Elaine.
Jonathan adds: ‘He would do anything for anyone. As a tailor, he made handbags for mum, a tent for Elaine and awnings for the local village shops. He’d alter all our clothes for us – he was very hardworking.
‘When we got to 16, my friends and I all had mopeds, and he’d upholster all the seats for us.
‘I would try and talk to him about his family, but it wasn’t that much of a thing to him.
‘Both Dad and Elaine had tried to find them over the years, but never had any luck – all the records from the orphanage had been destroyed in a fire – so they’d just sort of given up.’
Lisa adds: ‘I remember talking to Jonathan’s mum about it once, and she got upset. She felt that he was such a lovely man and deserved a family.’
Lisa and Jonathan had tried to track down Jimmy’s family (Picture: Supplied)
Jimmy died in 2007, …read more
Source:: Metro
