News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Reuben Beeman.
photo by Jim Cornelius
Reuben Joseph Beeman of Sisters gave himself the best Christmas present of his life this holiday season.
Hours of persistent phone calls to three states reunited him with siblings he hasn't seen since his early childhood.
The 24-year-old Sisters man knew his father had two children from a previous marriage -- his sister Tara and brother Parker. But Reuben's dad died on a fishing boat in Alaska 15 years ago, when Reuben was eight years old and he lost any chance of contact with them.
"It's this void in my heart that's been ongoing basically all my life," Beeman said.
Beeman had periodically attempted to find his relatives through Internet searches, without success. When his wife reunited with a long-lost cousin, he was inspired to try again.
This time, he simply used the phone -- over and over and over again.
"I had their names; that's all I had to go on," Beeman said.
That and a little sketchy family history.
Because of the Alaska connection, he tried calling every Beeman in Alaska -- some 30 or so in all.
He tried Pennsylvania, where his father hailed from. He tried Northern California, where his father's former wife had lived.
Finally, on Christmas Day, he hit paydirt. He found a Tara Beeman in California. He called her number and she answered.
Reuben asked her if she was Tara Beeman and if her father had died on a fishing boat in Alaska 15 years ago.
Warily, Tara answered in the affirmative, then asked who was calling.
"It's Reuben," Beeman said. "She said, 'Oh my God!' It's our little brother!'"
Parker Beeman was right there, having come to visit Tara in Ukiah for the holidays. The siblings were reunited on the phone, amid tears and no little wonderment that this could happen at all.
Tara is married, but she had kept her last name, enabling Reuben to stumble across her number in his marathon directory assistance search.
And it seemed especially fitting that the contact should happen on a family holiday like Christmas Day.
"That it happened on Christmas is just incredible," Reuben said.
The siblings plan to reunite in person as soon as Reuben is able to arrange travel to Northern California.
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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