Orphaned twins who hadn't seen each other since they were nine have reunited after a shocking 81 years apart.
Maurilia Chavez and Andrea Lopez, 90, were sadly ripped apart from each other in 1937 when their parents passed away, and they and their eight other siblings were divided among relatives.
Despite being twins, the sisters grew up hundreds of miles apart, not knowing if the other was alive or dead until four years later when they were back together at a family meeting for just one day.
But little did Chavez and Lopez know that was the last time they'd see each other, as for the next 81 years they forged a life for themselves separately.
Check out their reunion below:Over the next eight decades, each twin married their partner, had children, and then retired to Vegas and Denver respectively. During Thanksgiving 2023, Lopez decided to take a DNA test and the genetic test matched her to her sister, Chavez.
After that, the pair got in contact and spent long hours talking on the phone, recollecting their childhood memories. They even joked about how they hardly recognized each other as their voices had changed so much since they were children.
Last December, Lopez flew to Denver to reunite with Chavez in person and the twins shared an emotional embrace. "My little sister, I really wanted to see you, to have you with me, my beautiful little sister," Lopez said to her beloved sister in Spanish when they hugged.
Following their reunion, the twin sisters sat down for an interview with 9News to talk about the special moment that was 81 years in the making.
"When I see my sister, I get so happy, I don’t do nothing but cry and hug her and squish her," Lopez said. "It was like the first time I see her in my life because 81 years is too long… I remember just a little bit, a little, little bit, me too."
Chavez also heartwarmingly added: "I am the happiest person in the world because I never thought I was going to see her again. I was lonely. I have a beautiful family but what I really needed was my sister."
It seems they still have that sibling rivalry, as Chavez and Lopez quarreled about who was the eldest, with the latter insisting she was born six minutes earlier than her twin.
Nevertheless, the sisters spent as much time together as possible, so they slept in Chavez's bed the night after Lopez arrived. But as Chavez only had a single bed, Lopez tumbled out in the middle of the night - much to her sister's amusement.
Since their meeting, the twins discovered via DNA testing that three of their siblings are also still alive, all in their 80s and 90s, prompting them to travel for more reunions with their families.
One brother traveled from Los Angeles to Las Vegas to visit Lopez, and likewise, Lopez went to Texas to visit their 95-year-old elder brother.
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