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THURSDAY, JANUARY 5, 2017 • WATERLOO CHRONICLE • 3 Waterloo ChronicleVoluntary Pay Contribution Program We ask you to consider contributing $26 per year towards delivery of your Community Newspaper. Many of our Readers have made the decision to show their support for the Waterloo Chronicle. It is our pleasure to provide the Waterloo area with a Community Newspaper. 630 RIVERBEND DRIVE, UNIT 104, KITCHENER, ON N2K 3S2 fOR MORE INfORMaTION Call 519-623-7395 ext. 260 Yes! I would like to contribute to the Waterloo ChroniclePlease find a cheque for $26 enclosed for a 1 year contribution. Signature: _________________________________________________________ Name: _____________________________________________________________ address: ___________________________________ City:___________________ Postal Code: ____________________________ Phone #: _______________________________ We Appreciate Your Support! CITY NEWS WATERLOO CHRONICLE CITY NEWS WATERLOO CHRONICLE Getting a second chance Local father meets his long-lost daughter for the � rst time on Christmas Eve By Samantha Beattie Chronicle Sta� W hen Cari Sinkinson heard an unexpected knock at her front door, and opened it up to the cold evening air, she knew right away who the man was standing in front of her. She'd never met or spoken to him. All the two shared were a string of texts back and forth, catching up on a lifetime, her lifetime. It wasn't until later that she noticed they both sway back and forth when they're nervous. � ey both su� er from stage fright. � ey both were fearless in � nding one another. On Christmas Eve, Sinkinson stepped outside and came face to face with her father. Steve Gosselin, 56, and his wife Melody Brown, had travelled from Kitchener to Didsbury, Alberta to surprise Sinkinson, a few weeks after connecting for the � rst time through Facebook. "I got the hug of all hugs," said Steve, over the phone from Sinkinson's home. "It was a long one. It was very tight and I could feel her shaking. � en I knew it was going to be OK." � e hug that followed, the one from his teenaged grandson, is what moved Gosselin to tears. "It's a connection I've never had. I have some really close friends in the (Waterloo Region) community that I call family, but this is di� erent. Now I actually have family I can call family," said Gosselin. He recently submitted a letter to the Chronicle (published Dec. 22) describing what it was like being called dad for the � rst time in his life. Brown watched the reunion that had been a long time com- ing, since he � rst told her he had a daughter in September. "It was really important for me to get Steven here," she said. "I knew how much it meant to him. Along the way I learned to always be open to taking a chance. We've all done things in the past we could do better today, but just take a chance and it will always work out for the better." Sinkinson was born 38 years ago. Gosselin was 18 at the time and had already left the military base north of Edmonton, on which Sinkin- son was conceived. Sinkinson's birth mother didn't have the support to raise an infant alone and she put her up for adoption. Sinkinson grew up in Calgary and was raised by "two very great parents, who explained to me I was adopted before I even know what adoption was, and o� ered to help me � nd my birth parents." She started looking for them when she was 16 years old. Timing, it turned out, was on her side. Her adoptive father died in 2004. A year later Sinkinson tracked down her birth mother. Her adoptive mother died in 2014. Earlier this December she found Gosselin. "Even as a teenager I wondered who I was more like, who I got my looks from, the way I spoke, my eye colour," Sinkinson said. "� is has been a very emotional process for me. I have been looking for Steve for 20 years, but no wonder I couldn't � nd him. He was homeless for so long." Gosselin was sexually assaulted when he was 13. After turn- ing to drugs and alcohol to cope with the trauma, he became addicted and it quickly took over his life. From the military base, Gosselin went to Calgary. One day his father, fed up with the trouble Gosselin kept getting into, unfolded a map of Canada, closed his eyes and jabbed his � n- ger down randomly. It landed on a remote, harsh place where Gosselin would hitchhike to and stay for the next three years - Fort Nelson, Mile 301 on the Alaska Highway. "I eventually wore out my welcome with drinking, drugging and � ghting," Gosselin said. "I moved back to Calgary, met a Mormon girl and chased her to Ontario because I hated to be alone." � ey had two sons. � en, Gosselin � ed once again. "� ings got tough for me and whenever I got overwhelmed, I did what I knew best. I ran," he said. A carpenter by trade, Gosselin built up a carpentry company in Oshawa. � at's also where he was introduced to cocaine and then crack. "I was a crack cocaine addict for over 20 years," Gosselin said. "I used every single day." Gosselin was homeless on and o� . He used and stole from everyone he could, including his mother and sister. When he hit rock bottom and sought treatment, he ended up at the House of Friendship at 174 King St. N. in Waterloo. At age 46, he � nally had the support he needed to get and stay sober. "Since February 2006, this community has stuck beside me," Gosselin said. He's given back by volunteering at organizations like Out of the Cold, where he and Brown met, the United Way and House of Friendship. He shares his story publicly. Opening himself up to the K-W community, his wife and his friends, also led Gosselin to connecting with Sinkinson. After keeping an eye out for him for years on the Internet, she � nally came across a local media story about Gosselin's involvement with Hockey Helps the Homeless. From there she found his pro� le on Facebook and, through a mutual friend, connected with Gosselin's cousin. "I was at work and had seven or eight carpenters busy around me," Gosselin said. "I got a message from my cousin saying my daughter was looking for me. In the middle of the construction site I started crying and ran outside, where I cried some more." The two began talking that night through texts. Gosselin wanted to know if Sinkinson carried any resentment, if she felt like she had been abandoned. "Absolutely not," Sinkinson said. "I have no resentment at all. It's a very proud feeling to know your parent has struggled but come through it in a positive way." Gosselin wanted to find Sinkinson, but didn't know her name or date of birth. He and Brown planned to make headway in the new year, before it's too late. In the fall, Gosselin was diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder from childhood trauma and early onset Alzheimer's disease. "Finding Cari came at a perfect time, when I can enjoy and remember some of it," Gosselin said. "I am healthy enough to reach out and no matter what would have happened, I'd still be in a good place." Any doubts and uncertainties he had vanished on the Christmas Eve, when he saw his daughter for the � rst time. "I think the perfect answer I got was when Cari opened the door." Steve Gosselin and his daughter Cari Sinkinson at her home in Alberta. SUBMITTED PHOTO