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Friday February 4, 2011

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The DNTO reunion show (Feb. 6)

Reunited and it feels so....

Not all reunions are happy affairs and even the joyful ones can have a big effect on how you feel about yourself and your relationships. This week DNTO visits the reunion and discovers what really lies beneath the name tags.

Read on to find out what's on the show. You can also download the podcast on Saturday from our website, or get the "enhanced" version from iTunes.

 

Who you'll meet on the reunion show:

Long lost loves Barb and Roy Thomson share the sweet story of their reunion.

Barb&Roy good.JPG

Now, in some cases, the most powerful "reunion" can be with someone you have never met face-to-face... but who had a profound impact on your life. Joe Schlesinger knows what that's like. Joe is one of Canada's most famous journalists covering some of the world's biggest stories. But none of it would have been possible without the help of a British man named Nicholas Winton, who Joe first met in person only a few years ago. To read about the film Nicky's Family click here. 

Sook-Yin Lee hits the streets to ask: "Who have you run into that you wish you hadn't?"

Sook-Yin Says:
There is one musician I have a reunion with every morning when I walk downstairs
into my living room.  That's because, years ago, before me, songwriter Jason Collette lived in my house and he painted the floor a distinctive yellow argyle design. Whenever I see it, I think, Jason!

Jason Collett painted my floor.JPG

 Back in Ethiopia Ali Saeed's work as a human rights activist landed him several years in a jail cell. But luckily for him amnesty international intervened and he escaped to Canada. Reuniting with his wife in Winnipeg he was all set to start a new life. What he didn't know was that there was another less expected reunion waiting for him.

Now you know the situation. A family reunion. Esteemed family members from generations and generations gather together for a celebration of your clan. Only, things don't go as smoothly as you would have hoped they would. And the next thing you know, you are in a nightmare of a family reunion. But fear not, we are here to help you. Joseph Grenny's taken a good look at family reunions and he has a few tips you can pack into your picnic basket.

Tyler Clark Burke and her sister grew up in a very happy family. Then one day, her parents sat them down and told them they were getting divorced. Their parents never spoke and Tyler didn't see her mom much. But as the years passed, she started to see her mom a little more and that led to an even greater reunion. 

Canadian Rn'B gospel group Krystaal are a trio of brothers with one heck of a reunion story. Michel, Fabian and Aliston Lwamba grew up in Zaire, now known as the Democratic Republic of Congo. In 1990, Michel and Fabian were students at the university...and they took part in protests against the government. The army started shooting and the protest turned into a student massacre. The brothers were separated, running for their lives. Michel found his younger brother, Aliston...and they ended up in a refugee camp in Kenya. They assumed Fabian was dead but little did they know he had found his way to a different camp. Five years later, a Canadian church group sponsored Michel and Aliston and they came to Saskatoon. But they still didn't know if any one else from their family was alive.

One of the big advantages of living in a small city like Regina is that you often run into people that you know. Of course, if you're Jean Freeman that can be a big disadvantage as well.

We tend to think of reunions as positive events. But sometimes they actually make life more complicated. When Jane Edwards was a young woman, she gave up a baby girl for adoption. 31 years later, Jane received a phone call she had been hoping for...and also dreading.

Now if you were picked on as a kid, you may have a fantasy about all the things you'd say if you ever met your bully again. But what really happens when the bully and the victim meet? Holly O'Neill had that experience - but when she was younger, SHE was the one picking on other kids. Holly eventually turned her life around... but as she explains, sometimes your past catches up with you when you least expect it.

Having your beloved pet go missing is very traumatic. Will you ever see Oscar the cat again? Will you be reunited with Peter the budgie? Well, that's when you call Vicky Vaughan Private Pet Detective, the only pet detective in the world who is also a professional trapper.

Many years ago, Rosanna Deerchild was introduced to her father for the first time. The meeting was brief and awkward. And since she was only eight years old, she didn't really understand the connection between her and the large Aboriginal stranger. Little did she know that they would be reunited 25 years later.

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