Resident’s family has grown immeasurably

March 18, 2015 · 0 Comments

By Mark Pavilons
Family journeys are as unique as its members.
For some, it’s a rather uneventful path, but for others, the journey is quite remarkable.
For King’s Ron Littlejohn, his trek has come to fruition, meeting his brother for the first time in his life.
Littlejohn was an only child and raised by his single mother.
For his mom, raising him alone was not an easy decision, one Ron never fully understood but always respected.
“My mom never said a bad word to me about my father. She often expressed regret that I grew up without a father figure in my life,” he said.
Littlejohn pointed out that he never missed not having a father, as they say you don’t miss what you don’t know. “My mom was both my mother and my father and provided me with a fantastic childhood.”
As the years went by, Ron would occasionally ask his mom questions about him.
“I knew very little other than his name, and that he possibly remarried and had other children of his own.
“My mom passed away unexpectedly in 2002. Obviously I was devastated and completely alone. No brothers or sisters, no father and now no mother.”
His thoughts turned to his father more frequently after the loss of his mom. The urge to contact him would come and then go just as quickly. It didn’t consume him by any means.
However, every couple years the need to find him would arise once again along with all the old questions.
How would we meet?
Where would we meet?
Could I even find him?
Would I be intruding if I did contact him? Would I call him by his first name or would I call him dad?
At some point, Littlejohn sent out letters to everyone in Ontario with his father’s name gently expressing interest in meeting, while assuring him I wanted nothing and had no expectations.
“I heard nothing from any of them.”
Littlejohn’s daughter Ella was born in April of 2013.
“It was my goal to be best father I could be yet I had no idea how a father was supposed to act. I could only improvise and hope I was doing the right thing.”
With fatherhood, his curiosity about his own father grew stronger.
In a last-ditch effort to find his father, he posted to a Facebook group called “I Grew Up in East York Toronto” simply asking if anyone remembered his father.
“Surprisingly, I received several replies but they were all about someone else with the same name.
“Miraculously one girl replied that her father worked with him and knew him for over 25 years.
“Her and I spoke on the phone and we compared photos. We agreed it was the same man, however, she informed me that sadly I was too late in my search.”
Ron’s father had passed away suddenly of lung cancer at the young age of 64 in 2007.
“I hung up the phone and was overwhelmed with unexpected grief. I found him and I lost him all in one split second. The feelings were like none I had ever felt before. How do you grieve for someone you’ve never met or knew?”
That wave of sadness passed and Ron was able to track down the obituary from a Toronto newspaper. In that obituary, it said he had fathered another son named Phil Westlake.
“I figured I would try Facebook once again and with a few quick keystrokes I had located my brother. I messaged him and delicately suggest we should talk. Miraculously he figured out exactly why I was contacting him.
“We spoke on the phone and he told me all about the father I never knew but more importantly I was starting a friendship with a brother.”
The duo met for the first time March 10 in Oshawa.
For Littlejohn, it was “wild and unbelievable.” He said they hit it off immediately, but both admitted prior to the meeting they felt like it was an important job interview. They have a lot in common and Ron said they even share similar mannerisms.
Littlejohn said that night, they were both exhausted from the “crazy, emotional roller coaster” ride.
Phil is three years older than Ron and has three children, so Ron became an instant uncle, and his daughter has cousins.
“It’s amazing stuff,” he said.