Brothers Celebrate 20 Years Since Thanksgiving Reunion That Brought Them Together After 26 Years

SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — Brothers separated as children are celebrating the 20 years since they were reunited as adults on Thanksgiving.

CBS13 was there in 1994 for their first reunion, and we were there again on Thursday for another reunion, which they say is happening more often these days.

It's not just another Thanksgiving for Jerry and Lee Gitchel.

Looking through a photo book of memories they've built over the last two decades, this Thanksgiving is an anniversary of sorts.

CBS13 cameras were rolling 20 years ago when the brothers reunited after being separated for the 26 years before that.

"We grew up in the foster home system. Never really lived together," Larry said.

Lee was 10 and Jerry just 6 months old when they were put in different homes.

"What most foster kids do is they go through doors as they go through different foster homes and they slam them shut behind them," Jerry said." And they don't go back through those doors."

But Lee opened the door in 1994 when he searched for Jerry in a directory of Compuserve members. He saw a Jerry Gitchel in Florida and sent him an email.

"So I typed in 'lost brother. looking for my lost brother. If you lived in San Diego in the 70's please respond,'" he said.

Jerry was stunned by the message. It took him 20 minutes to respond, and the brothers reconnected with emails and phone calls.

Jerry says the timing was cosmic, as his daughter Jenny was in the hospital suffering from complications from diabetes. She died two days later.

"At the exact same time that I had a tremendous loss in my life, I gained a tremendous amount because all of a sudden I had my big brother," he said.

And a few months later on Thanksgiving in 1994, the brothers were together again.

They now keep in touch on a weekly basis and see each other every few years.

"Being he's 10 years younger and I'm the big brother, I need to make sure things work out. 'cause we came from a very broken family and had a pretty tough go," Lee said. "But we're fine."

"Even though we were not together physically, we were together, in terms of our hearts," Jerry said. "We really were."