Only on Lifetime Real Women. Check Your Local Listings.
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Only on Lifetime Real Women. Check Your Local Listings. |
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SYNOPSIS: The images are from another place and time. A proud young father cradles his newborn daughter, her gentle smile captured in dozens of photographs. Virginia Burns of Aurora, Colorado, always thought they were pictures of her. She learned the truth when she was in her early thirties. Virginia's father told her she was not the baby in the photos. When questioned, her mother replied that it was just a friend's baby. Years would pass before Virginia finally learned the entire truth. In 1991, a year after Virginia's father died, her mother confided that he had been previously married. Then she made an even more startling revelation. Virginia had a sister, her father's daughter from his first marriage, but there was no way of knowing where she was. Three months later, Virginia's mother also passed away. With both of her parents gone, Virginia launched a search for the sister she had never known. On one of the pictures was written in her father's handwriting, "Susan and I in Hugo." Hugo, Colorado is where Virginia's father, Joe Corum, lived in 1942. He was a dishwasher and busboy in a small cafe. That's where Joe met a young woman named Diana. Diana's mother ran the cafe and didn't approve of Joe. Despite Clara's objections, a romance blossomed. Joe and Diana married and a year later, Susan was born. But the tensions between Joe and his mother-in-law apparently escalated and eventually drove Joe and Diana apart. In 1946, they divorced and Joe left town for good. Joe Corum apparently never saw his wife or his daughter again. After the separation, he moved to Greeley, Colorado, where he fell in love with Virginia's mother, Dolly. They eloped and Virginia was born a year later. Joe was happy with his family, but he apparently never forgot the daughter he left behind. Now, looking back some forty years, Virginia understands the poignance of one memorable incident from her childhood. It was Virginia's sixth birthday. For months, she had coveted a doll in the window of a local store. It was a dream come true for the little girl when she received that doll on her birthday. When Virginia asked her father what she should name the doll, Joe told her to call it "Sweet Sue." Virginia did just that, never realizing that was her sister's name. Virginia learned that her father tried to find Diana and Susan several times, but was never successful. He died in 1990 without ever learning their fate. Virginia now hopes to succeed where her father failed, and find the sister whose memory lingers on in the sweet innocence of a young girl's doll.UPDATE: Virginia Burns search for her half sister, Susan King, ended on Friday night, April 25, 1997, moments after Unsolved Mysteries profiled her story. Susan had not seen the story, but her ex-husband had. He called the Unsolved Mysteries Phone Center, then contacted Susan directly. Susan stated that she had been looking for her family since she turned 21 years old. Her mother had remarried and she had been adopted by her stepfather. Consequently, her birth records were sealed by the courts. Susan was overjoyed at being found and was immediately put in touch with Virginia. Their first conversation lasted more than 90 minutes. Virginia and Sue have already discovered many similar interests and creative talents they share. The two half-sisters are eagerly anticipating meeting for the first time. A reunion is being planned for the near future.
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