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Published 6:46 am on June 01, 2009

Facebook helps reunite mom, son after 27 years apart

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The people from your past you can bump into on Facebook seems unlimited.

That fact has renewed Avril Grube with joy.

Grube, who is British, last saw her son Gavin in 1982. Her ex-husband was taking Gavin on a trip to the zoo.

Or so she thought.

Instead Joseph Paros took Gavin to Hungary. At that time Hungary was a Communist nation solidly behind the Iron Curtain. Pleas to lawmakers, including then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, largely fell on deaf ears. Tracking abducted children in Eastern Europe at that time was virtually impossible and not a high priority in the West.

Fast forward to last year.

Grube, 61, has suffered a stroke. Since the fall of Communism she had unsuccessfully tried for years to locate Gavin without any luck. Then her sister, Beryl Wilson, typed his name into the Facebook search window.

She found him.

Wilson had to wait weeks until Gavin got around to checking his page. Shortly thereafter the ball got rolling on a reunion.

Gavin, too, had been looking for his mother after his father’s death without success. He is 30, married and has three children.

There are plenty of ways you can melt away the hours on Facebook.

List your five favorite sports teams.

Post grainy photos from the ‘70s.

Become a “fan” of pretty much anything, including Jesus.

But bring a family back together after nearly 30 years? That is nearly as amazing as it is heartwarming.

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