Until last month, Sharon Brown and Tonda Davis hadn’t seen their “sister” Rebeca Albornoz in more than 30 years.
It was 1980 when they were last together.
They’d kept in touch for a long while, but eventually Brown and Davis lost contact with Albornoz. Facebook brought them back together three years ago.
About a month ago, the three “sisters,” each nervous about the reunion, got together.
“When she got off the train, and we saw each other, everything was the same,” Brown said.
Now, Brown and Davis, who both live in Evington, are actually sisters by blood. Albornoz, who’s from Santiago, Chile, considers them her sisters, and they feel the same about her.
They met when Albornoz was an exchange student in Davis’ class at Gretna High School in 1978. She spent a little more than three months with the Hines family in the Hurt area. That was Brown and Davis’ maiden name.
“She came as an exchange student and left as a sister,” Brown said.
Albornoz, in a recent interview, recalled taking Spanish, French and math while attending Gretna High School, although she didn’t get credit for the classes. She came at age 16 and turned 17 while visiting. She didn’t speak English when she arrived, but learned while here. Albornoz still has a dictionary Brown gave her.
After being here in 1978, Albornoz came back for two months in 1980. Until the three met at the train station in Lynchburg June 16, they hadn’t seen each other in 32 years.
Although they lost contact after a while, “My sisters and my American family were always in my heart,” Albornoz said.
Albornoz was close to Brown and Davis’ parents, Sherman and Christine Hines, both now deceased. She called their parents mama and daddy, and they considered her one of their daughters.
“They never made a difference,” Albornoz said.
“My mama and daddy were loving people. They never rejected anyone,” Brown said.
Brown said Albornoz’s mannerisms and personality are like their mother.
“Her profile is very much like mama,” Brown said.
Albornoz, who is here with her daughter Camila, said it’s not a vacation, but a reunion with family.
They’ve had fun, including going to a wine festival, Myrtle Beach and River Ridge Mall. They’ve rode horses, helped clean the barn and been introduced to some wildlife, including squirrels, skunks, raccoons and deer, which Camila calls “Bambi.”
Camila, who’s 18, wanted to have a typical American July 4th. So they went to a Lynchburg Hillcats’ baseball game followed by fireworks. She and her mom ate corndogs at the game and liked them so much, they went to Walmart after the game and bought more.
Albornoz, who’s involved in her family’s printing business in Santiago and runs marathons, has been doing her business work while here, and Camila has been studying for a test to attend a university in Chile.
They will return to Chile in early August, but Albornoz has invited Brown and Davis to visit, and they plan to go.
It’s been a great reunion.
“We’ve had a wonderful relationship and a wonderful time since she was back,” Brown said.