The discovery of a father’s lost ashes has helped two sisters put their differences aside years after his remains went missing.
Lisa Barrett, 63, of Doncaster, England, was unable to attend the funeral of her father, Kenneth Wilson, when he died of natural causes in the U.S. in 2021. She explained to the BBC that her sister Laura Greeno, 56, then decided to post her a sample of his ashes.
However, Barrett never received them as a transatlantic mix-up ensued, with Royal Mail informing her the parcel had been returned to the U.S. due to an unpaid customs fee, while the United States Postal Service claimed they never received it.
Barrett said Royal Mail sent her financial compensation and a box of flowers for the mishap, but years later, the situation has now been resolved as Greeno was able to confirm that the package had been returned to her, per the BBC.
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Barrett told the outlet she was left feeling “really overwhelmed” after the family was able to retrieve the ashes and it helped her relationship with her sibling.
“The two of us, for the first time in a long time, we had to put our differences aside and our heads together,” she said.
Having been brought closer together as a result, Barrett said she “broke into tears” when they recently had a video call as it was the first time they had locked eyes since around 2018.
She told the BBC that she reached out to her sister to reassure her that “everything was going to be alright” amid the missing parcel.
“Every place we looked seemed to be a dead end, and I just couldn’t help but start to wonder if this should have been done in the first place,” Barrett told the outlet. “But it should have been done, for no other reason than the thought behind it — she could have sent me ashes from the Labour Day barbecue, and I would’ve been as excited.”
Royal Mail and the United States Postal Service did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment on Tuesday, April 8.
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