Mom did not accept her son’s divorce from his wife and constantly begged him to continue communicating with the children. This angered Togo, and he cut off contact with her and other relatives. They spent six years looking for him, but the only news of all this time was the last from him.
Irene Donovan from the US city of Winthrop Harbor was shopping for groceries early in the morning when she heard on the local radio the end of an announcement about a lonely person who passed away a few days ago. In recent years, the man lived in a nursing home, but no one has ever visited him.
The funeral home, which the staff of the boarding house contacted, posted a message in the media to invite caring people to see him on his last journey since they could not find any relatives or friends.
Vietnam War veteran Steven Myerson was seen off on his last journey by local ex-military
Hearing on the radio made Irene stop. The man’s name was Stephen Myerson, after her cousin, whom she and her family had been looking for for six years.
He burned all bridges with loved ones after he left his wife and children – his mother and sisters did not support such a decision.
My aunt tearfully urged him to at least call the children, but Stephen remained adamant. He eventually declared that he did not want to hear such conversations anymore, and cut off contact even with her.
The wife of a guy from India was much luckier: the cunning husband decided to fake his death and start a new life, but did not calculate the power of love of his lawful soulmate.
And the boy from Indonesia, who was kidnapped as a child, did everything to reunite with his parents. In this he was helped by faith in a miracle and a little magic from Google Maps.
Since then, Myerson moved from place to place and at some point completely disappeared from the sight of the family. They constantly searched for information about him on the Internet, wrote to his army friends (Steven was a Vietnam War veteran), but the efforts were in vain. Irene could not help even the head of the local police station, when in 2018 she began searching for her brother after the death of his twin sister and his son.
None of us understood why the brother acted with such cruelty. He did everything so that we would not find him.
When Irene returned home from the store, she replayed the information she heard on the radio in her head. The woman did not want to jump to conclusions, but both the name and age announced in the ad were the same. She called the radio station, and there she was given the phone number of a newspaper that helped the funeral home find the relatives of the deceased man.
Employees of the publication said they were looking for relatives of 72-year-old Marine Corps veteran Stephen Myerson, who died in a nursing home in Eglin, Illinois. This information was enough for Irene to understand that the six-year search had come to an end. This is her brother.
She immediately contacted Stephen’s siblings Ralph and John, who will have to decide how to report the new loss of their son to their mother, 92-year-old Lorraine Armonda. She can’t have visitors at her nursing home due to the pandemic, but everyone in the family has learned that it’s not a good idea to give such things over the phone.
We all have mixed feelings. I’m glad that at least something has cleared up, but my aunt (Steve’s mother) has been worried about him all these years and hopefully asked daily if there was any news from him. I just wish I could be there and hug her when she finds out.
Stephen Myerson is survived by his mother, two brothers, daughter Kristen and several cousins, sisters, nieces and nephews. Irene Donovan plans that once coronavirus restrictions are lifted, they will hold a memorial service and visit his grave at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood.
