A Christmas family reunion in Creola

MOBILE, Ala (WALA) - A family reunion between siblings took place Sunday in Creola.

It was a first-time meeting for a family separated by marriage and mileage. 

Twenty years ago, the then 18-year-old Jeff Brusatori said he made a phone call to his father, whom he had never met.  He said the call didn't go as planned, but Brusatori spoke to his half-sister Julie that day. He said he never thought he would ever meet her.

His father Ted Tinker and mother Barbara Brusatori separated.  Tinker went east and started a new family including three kids: Julie, Teddie, and Alex.

“About two years ago, my sister had a dream that she had a brother,” said Jeff Brusatori of Trinity County, California.

In that dream, they reunited. The thought of it spurred Julie to track down her long lost brother.

“It was natural curiosity, just you know, that need find everybody that belongs to you,” said Julie Jordan, Brusatori’s half-sister.

The two wrote letters and e-mailed each other, never thinking they would ever meet. But Julie wasn't alone in her curiosity. Two other siblings, Alex and Teddie, wanted to meet Brusatori, too.

“Growing up with two older sisters is always kind of difficult, but I always wished I had a brother to go out and play with and now I got one,” said Alex Tinker, Brusatori’s half-brother.

“My dad he always had a tattoo of the name Barbara on his leg; and right before he died, we asked him who it was. And he told us he had been married to this lady named Barbara, and he had a son with her. Shortly after that he died, and we always knew we had a brother, we just didn't know who he was or where he was,” said Teddie Kimmons, Brusatori’s half-sister.

Brusatori has been living and working on the west coast; and after two years of building a relationship with his siblings, they decided it was time to meet in person.

“I've driven 3,000 plus miles from California to Alabama,” said Brusatori, “3,170 miles.”

And the anticipation mounted on both sides, when Brusatori pulled in Mobile to say he was almost in Creola.

“I guess just so nervous, a whole heap of emotions because you don't really know what to expect: nervous, excited, everything all at the same time. It's been a little too much,” said Jordan.

“I'm sure, I'll have tears in my eyes, I've been kind of hiding them so far. I've had a couple in my eyes driving down here,” said Brusatori.

And finally, after 20 years and 3,000 miles they met for the first time.

“My brother, sister, and I are so close. And so now, we have one more to be close with,” said Jordan.

“It was wild my sister and I both had the same dream. It's just amazing that it actually came true,” said Kimmons.

The family said they plan to make some new memories, and learn about the past during Brusatori's visit.