Sisters in surprise reunion

TWO sisters who were born in Henley but now live more than 5,000 miles apart were reunited for Christmas.

Diana Gonzalez, 63, who lives in Mexico, flew back to Britain to surprise Pamela Hardman and other members of her family.

Only her daughter-in-law Georgina Gonzalez-Matthews knew about the visit as she won it in a competition organised by chocolate manufacturer Thorntons.

After landing at Heathrow airport, Mrs Gonzalez was brought to Henley for the party at the Bull in Bell Street.

The family included Mrs Hardman, an actress who lives in New Street, Mrs Gonzalez’s daughter Elizabeth, who lives in London, and son Jorge, who is married to Mrs Gonzalez-Matthews, and their children LJ, one, and five-month-old Lyra.

The family were all sitting down when Mrs Gonzalez entered the pub’s private dining room and shouted: “Surprise!”

Mrs Hardman screamed and leapt up to hug her. Mrs Gonzalez then greeted and kissed her son and his wife and held her granddaughter for the first time.

She said: “Georgina did an amazing job of keeping everything secret. I was so pleased to be able to visit as it isn’t easy for us to find the time or the money to do this.

“I was very, very excited as I was walking through the pub and the reaction was just amazing. Nobody could quite believe it and I remember Pamela screaming while Elizabeth was just open-mouthed and trying to take it all in.

“It was a very, very moving moment and I was so delighted to be able to meet Lyra, who is absolutely beautiful.

“I’m very grateful to Georgina for thinking of me and putting me forward for it.”

Mrs Hardman said: “It was unbelievable. I suspected that something was afoot when Georgina announced a last-minute dinner and I wondered whether Diana was coming but dismissed it as I thought it was too impractical.

“We’re of a similar age and it was just wonderful to see her. I was so thrilled that I couldn’t help myself when she walked in.”

Mrs Gonzalez, who was born at the old Townlands Hospital, grew up in Medmenham with her sister.

She met her husband Jorge snr when they were students at the University of Reading and the couple moved to Mexico in 1976. She works as a translator and can only afford to come home every few years.

She had not been back to Henley for Christmas since 2010 and had only met LJ once briefly last year and had not seen Lyra.

After the reunion on December 5, Mrs Gonzalez stayed on and only flew home to Monterrey yesterday (Thursday).

She divided her time between her son’s home in Reading and Mrs Hardman’s house and the family had another dinner at the Little Angel pub in White Hill.

The sisters attended a carol service at St Mary’s Church, visited Greys Court and enjoyed walks in the countryside as well as spending a day together in London.

They also visited their mother Joyce Hardman, 95, who was widowed 20 years ago and now lives at the Acacia Lodge care home in Quebec Road, Henley.

Mrs Gonzalez spent Christmas Eve with her son’s family in Reading and had Christmas dinner with them at night, which is tradition in Mexico, and then spent Christmas Day with Mrs Hardman.

She said: She said: “We really enjoyed having three more weeks to enjoy each other’s company.

“It’s been a lovely visit – it’s a bit colder than I’m used to but I’ve been able to borrow plenty of coats.

“My family are so precious and I’m so thankful that I had this unexpected opportunity to be with them.

“My husband is one of 11 children so he hasn’t been short of company without me!”

Mrs Hardman said: “I last saw Diana almost a year ago so any time we can spend together is valuable.

“When we were together we were chatting away as if we’d never been apart. We keep in contact by email but it’s never quite the same.

“Diana particularly enjoyed the service at St Mary’s. Her English friends in Mexico all miss traditional carol singing more than anything else at Christmas because they don’t really have that over there.

“It’s always terribly sad when she goes but we have some wonderful memories of this visit and will just have to wait until the next time.”

Mrs Gonzalez-Matthews entered the Continental Journeys competition, in which three families with overseas relatives were reunited for Christmas, after seeing it advertised on Facebook in October.

She submitted a short statement explaining why the family should win and learned she had been successful a few weeks later.

She emailed Mrs Gonzalez and then invited everyone to the dinner but didn’t tell them about their special guest.

The reunion was filmed for a promotional video.