Mom who went missing 32 yrs ago gets emotional after reuniting with her children: 'After all these years...'

Parents are the most important people in their children’s lives, and having to live without them is a fear they usually never overcome, even with age. Gwen and her brother Ray had to helplessly live without their mom, Vera Daisy Brown, after her mysterious disappearance, leading them to wonder if she was missing or worse, dead. Despite the passing of years and a rollercoaster of emotions, they could not give up on her — with continuous reports filed and unwavering police persistence, the family was reunited miles away from their home — 32 long years later — per 60 Minutes Australia.

Vera Daisy Brown was a dedicated homemaker and loving mother of 3 children in their 20s and a grandmother to a 5-year-old boy — they lived happily in New South Wales, Australia. Their lives changed in 1972 when a mystery man named Les Kendall entered Vera’s life with promises of changing her world and giving her all the happiness she ever desired. He started with a much-needed trip to Queensland, which was only supposed to last a few days, but they never returned. Vera continued writing vague letters to her children initially, but eventually stopped, and after 2 weeks of her departure, her children filed a missing person’s report under her name — and thus began the longest case of its kind.

Vera expressed that Kendall was a manipulative man — he made her believe that creditors were after them, that they had to constantly be on the run, change names, and evade the police to avoid getting caught. After years of believing and supporting him unwaveringly, she discovered that he had been lying about his debts only to keep her away from her family and with him instead. When asked about why she chose to stay away from her children instead of going back, Vera told the outlet, "I didn't see through his lies. I thought it was all true. To my sorrow, I stuck by him. I'll tell you that now I am sorry I stuck by him."  

It was only 2 weeks after the passing of Mendall that signs of Vera’s existence resurfaced, and the police had some leads — 32 long years of persistent efforts later, from both children and the cops, they finally reunited with their mother in Adelaide, leaving all the grudges behind. Gwen expressed how she would be cherishing time with her mom: "I don't think you can ever make up for the lost time. We'll make the most of what time we've got." 

Even though one may think that the absence of a parent barely affects an adult like Gwen and Ray now are, a study by Kylie Agllias presents the duality of this situation. The results suggest that most adult children felt healed and relieved by estrangement from parents, especially those with troubled relationships, but it led them to feelings of anguish and turned out to be a prominent loss for them in the longer run, affecting their ability to build new relationships. This suggests that even though Vera was no longer a primary family member for her children, her absence impacted their lives immensely. No matter how old we grow, for some of us, our mothers will always be our safety net, and the person we would want to go back to for a warm embrace after a tiring day.