Adopted pensioner finds long lost brother living at his favourite holiday destination
For half-a-century Roger Jones has felt a special connection with the Isle of Wight, where he and his family spent many happy holidays.
Now the retired engineering inspector has met a brother he never knew he had– living on the island he loves – and says it was 'magical' to make the discovery.
Mr Jones, aged 78 and the product of a wartime romance, was given up for adoption as a baby and brought up in Bilston.
He often wondered about his biological family but every attempt at finding them drew a blank.
The grandfather of four, who lives in Willenhall, found out in 1983 – 16 years after he had started regularly visiting the island - that he had been born in Newport, on the Isle of Wight, but was not able to build on the discovery.
Then, a few weeks ago, a family member tracked down his younger brother Byron Coupland, 72, living on the holiday isle - while Roger and his wife Irene were on vacation there - and passed on his phone number.
Roger, of Dilloways Lane, said: "I couldn't talk to him because I went to pieces but Irene did and we arranged to meet the next time we were over, which was the following month. They hadn't known I existed."
The couple were welcomed with open arms by Roger's new family. "It was amazing," he said.
"Byron was standing on the doorstep and said 'Come on, brother'. I had all my documents with me but he said he didn't need to see them.
"It was like we'd never been apart because we've got the same banter.
"People say we look alike but I can't see it, but he's definitely a bit of a character.
"He told me I owed him 72 birthday presents, I told him he owed me 78.
"I keep pinching myself to see it it's true. He said we must have passed each other in the street over the years because it's our favourite place.
"It's sad we're in our later lives but hopefully we've got a few years to catch up."
Sadly Roger's adoptive father died only a few months into the adoption, while his mother passed away in 1989, but he says he has had a good life.
The only real cloud on the horizon has been the discovery that he had two other brothers who died - Peter, who tragically drowned aged just 23, and Derek, who died 12 years ago aged 68.
But after nearly eight decades living as an only child, nothing can dampen Roger's spirits.
Wife Irene, one of eight children, had tried to help her husband trace his roots over the years. She said: "Coming from such a big family myself, I could understand how he felt.
"All I can say is it was well worth the wait. We couldn't have wished for a nicer family. Roger looks 10 years younger, and he's been a lot happier. It's been like finding a pot of gold at the end of the rainbow."
