FOR years, Marjorie Segree told her children they have a brother — her eldest child — that they hadn’t met.

Each night, Segree, on bended knees, asked God to care for and bless him as she had never given up hope that he was alive, though she hadn’t seen him since he was six years old.

Two weeks ago, Segree’s prayers were answered when her son, Marlon Reid, now 51 years old, met her at Ocean Village Shopping Centre in Ocho Rios — across the street from where she sells the Jamaica Observer newspaper.

The mother and son were overjoyed.

“It feels so great, finally seeing him after 45 years,” Segree said with a bright, broad smile.

Reid, also smiling from ear to ear, told the Sunday Observer that he was overwhelmed with joy at finally being able to see and touch his mother.

The meeting was a fitting climax to years of searching, which started after Reid and her child were separated by circumstances that led to him being raised by another woman. Segree said she had owed the woman a large sum of cash but was unable to pay because, at the time, she was living on the street and wasn’t working.

She said that when Marlon was 12 years old, she managed to get a contact for the woman with whom he was living and reached out to her.

“I called and she told me that the little boy was at school and she was gonna take him to see me. So I went to Westmoreland to see him and I waited all day and she never came,” Segree claimed.

According to Segree, she recently found out that her son was living at a boys’ home at the time.

“So she had me waiting to see my child knowing she didn’t have him,” Segree alleged.

“But I always put his name on the altar and say to myself, ‘I wonder what is going on with him?’ and I trusted that God was taking care of him,” she said.

Meanwhile, Reid was also on a quest to find his mother. However, he encountered challenges because he didn’t know her birth name.

But, last year, a spark of luck led to Segree’s birth certificate being found and he began a search on social media, which led him to an article published by the Observer in 2022 featuring Segree, who has been a Jamaica Observer vendor for more than 22 years. The resemblance between them was unmistakable.

“He saw my picture in the story on Facebook and match it with his, and he said, ‘This is my mother’,” Segree shared.

“Something so good come of the Observer just doing a story about me. He told me that he also read the article,” she added

After reading the article, Reid reached out to Observer writer Paul Reid in Montego Bay, St James, who set the wheels in motion for the two to eventually meet.

Segree said that on the day of the reunion, a woman who had told her that she had a surprise for her took her from her vending spot to the plaza.

“I saw this young man and his lovely wife and he said, ‘Hopey’, and I said, ‘Who are you?’ and he said, ‘Marlon,’ and I said, ‘Marlon Anthony Reid?’ and he said, ‘Yes,’ and right there I knew he was my son,” Segree shared, her face a picture of joy.

“He looks so much like me. Touching him and seeing him, I just couldn’t believe that it was Marlon,” she added

Reid, now a successful businessman who operates an equipment rental company in Montego Bay called Birds Equipment, was thrilled to update his mother on all the milestones she had missed.

“I’m happy that I found her, and I don’t have any bitterness against her because she had me when she was 16. But I don’t think I would trade my life, because everything worked out, God just allowed me to take a different path. Now I’m at a stage where I can come in and help her.

“When I saw her, I knew she was my mother. I even said to her that my father is not involved in my making, I’m the spitting image of her,” he said, laughing.

Reid said, too, that he has no resentment toward the woman who raised him. He told the Sunday Observer that he still has a relationship with her; she now resides in New York, United States. In fact, she was the one who found an old copy of Segree’s birth certificate, which aided Reid in his search.

“I don’t know the full story because I hear story from both sides, but I told them all of that is not important; what is important is that I found my real mother. I believe God used everything to His glory,” said Reid

“But, thank God for that Observer article, because it is what I used and found out that she is in Ochi and decided to go and surprise her,” he added.

Segree told the Sunday Observer she is grateful that her son is in the best shape and their relationship has been blossoming since they met.

“To God be the glory, he is in good health and he said we should put all the past behind us and move to the present. He has five beautiful children that I will get to meet very soon,” said Segree.

Reid shared similar sentiments, and is excited about including his mother in his future plans.

“We talk everyday, and I also got to hook up with my father’s side of family as well. I’m just happy how everything worked out,” he said.