QUEEN CREEK, Ariz. — It was a warm early evening at a parking lot in Mesa. Melinda Boggs’ hand was shaking with nerves and excitement.
It had been 16 years since she hugged her granddaughter Emma. This Friday night, Emma and her husband drove 12 hours from Northern California for the reunion that almost never happened.
Emma and Brianna were 3 and 2 years old when Child Protective Services took them away from their mother, who was unable to take care of them.
“That was the worst thing in the world to happen to anybody,” said Melinda Boggs. The girl’s grandmother.
Boggs had a heart condition at the time and was unable to take the girls. They were put in foster care and later adopted by another couple.
“It broke all of our hearts, 'cause we knew we may not ever see them again,” said Boggs.
For 16 years—the girls were just a memory.
“Not a day went by I didn't think of them girls,” said Boggs.
Not a day went by without hoping she’d see them again.
“Am I bumping into them and not knowing it. Is that them in front of me, 'cause I look at a kid, they'd look like them. 'Is that them?'” said Boggs.
Melinda always had faith she would see them once again. She was right.
It began with a birthday card for Emma their great-grandmother Verna had left for her 5th birthday. Because of adoption rules, the girls would not see the card until they were both over 18.
“She had left a picture of her brother in it and put his name and our names on the card,” said Boggs.
Emma and Brianna had also grown up wondering about their birth family. When they received the card, they searched Facebook for the names on the card, first reaching their great-grandfather, who then called Melinda.
“'Emma Mallory? Who's that?’ He goes, ‘That's your granddaughter.’ – ‘No, Daddy, no.’ I just started crying. I'm like, ‘Oh my God. You answered our prayers,’” said Boggs.
After a few months of catching up, Emma and her husband drove to Mesa to meet her birth family, including her brother Enrique and his family.
“It's awesome, finally getting to see my little sister for the first time,” said Enrique Estrella, Emma’s brother.
“It's like completing—like I found the other part of my family. Staying in touch and building memories,” said Emma Mallory.
“Never give up hope. God answers prayers,” said Boggs.