There are stories of family members being reunited in all sorts of unique ways. And these stories are always touching and inspiring, but none of them compare to the unique way that these two cousins were reunited.
With some luck and a lot of chance, these cousins were reunited with a balloon.
Like a message in a bottle, Michelle Boisseao started out with a note. Then she attached her note to a silver helium balloon and let the wind do the rest.
Typically releasing balloons like this is bad for the environment, and we don’t recommend it. They can easily get caught in wildlife’s digestive system or clutter and pollute some of the most pristine places, since we never know where they’ll land. We’ll let this one instance slide for now.
Balloons get released all the time by accident and can easily get caught up in trees. Whether it’s careless little kids or from a memorial- you can find helium balloons anywhere. But none like this.
A little while later…
Tommy Ingram was working one day out in the country. He stumbled upon a silver balloon that had gotten stuck on the side of the road. When he walked up to it he saw there was a note attached.
The little piece of paper said:
“Please if you find me, let me know where it landed. Call or text.”
The fact that it landed near a town is incredible. There are a million different ways this story could have ended, and the balloon never reaching a person is a probable one.
Of course, Tommy called Michelle, and the two found out the balloon had quite the journey. Though it had started in Illinois, it had made its way all the way to Kentucky- over 170 miles away! Surprisingly just making it to the edge of Tommy’s small town, Clinton.
You would think that the story ends with the call to Michelle but that’s only where it gets interesting…
The two were chatting about Clinton and Michelle mentioned that she had spent summers there with her grandparents. They just thought that it was an interesting coincidence, so Tommy asked her grandparents’ name and he surprisingly recognized it.
Their last name matched his mother’s maiden name.
After some more talking it through, the two put together that their great grandfathers were brothers. This makes Tommy and Michelle second cousins.
In the full Inside Edition interview, you can see how surreal their first meeting was. They were overjoyed to see each other, swap stories, and can be seen looking through photo albums reminiscing about their families.
You can truly see how excited these two are to meet each other. The joy and love on their faces is clear, no matter how far apart in distance or on their family tree.
It’s amazing that a simple balloon was the reason these two were brought together. It just goes to show that life works in mysterious ways.
Be sure to watch the video below to see more on this really incredible story!
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