A Buckie woman was finally reunited with her long lost Native American relatives after discovering her heritage last year.
Paula Stillie first appeared on ITV’s Long Lost Family after spending her life wondering about her origins before she was adopted as a baby.
After much digging, the show’s team discovered her father, Lawrence, was of Native American descent.
Though he had sadly died, they were able to put her in touch with his family in Montana.
While they just spoke over video chat last year, only nine months later were they able to meet face to face for an emotional reunion.
Long lost family
Mrs Stillie now runs a bed and breakfast in Cullen, lives with her husband Euan and has a 26-year-old son named Kyle.
She talked about how she struggled growing up with a different skin tone to her white adoptive parents and feeling “different”.
In follow-up programme Long Lost Family: What Happened Next?, viewers could watch as she was reunited with her relatives.
The 51-year-old travelled to Montana with her husband and son to meet her uncles and aunts Joe, Mary Louise, Nancy and Richard.
Though there were nerves, happy tears were shed as they were reunited, with Mrs Stillie saying it felt “incredible”.
She added: “Opening the door and seeing them standing there, I just can’t describe the feeling. I’ve waited for this moment for so long.”
Belonging
Unfortunately Mrs Stillie’s uncle Joe was unwell, but the others embraced her immediately and said she “belongs” with the family.
They told her Lawrence – who they called John – did not know he had any children before he died, but assured her he would have reached out had he known.
They were also able to tell her more about her birth father, answer questions and tell her that their family was once part of the Comanche tribe in Oklahoma.
It wasn’t only Mrs Stillie who was well received, but the family she had created for herself too.
Her aunt Nancy exclaimed: “When I saw Kyle for the first time, I saw my brother John, no question.”
The group visited Glacier National Park where Lawrence’s family lived so Mrs Stillie could walk in his footsteps and read a letter she had written to him before meeting more family members for the first time.
The Long Lost Family team also managed to trace Mrs Stillie’s birth mother, but she did not want to make contact with her daughter.
You can watch the Long Lost Family episode featuring Mrs Stillie on the STV Player HERE