They would have rubbed shoulders in Stratford as strangers numerous times, but it was only this Labour weekend that John Mason and Ian Blackstock (74) met as brothers.
For Ian it was the last piece of the puzzle since he started searching for his birth family around a year ago. For John, the news that he has a half-brother came as a bit of a shock.
"Our mother had told us everything about her life, or so we thought. Mum would have been 18," says John.
Ian, who grew up on Bird Rd as an only child, was told he was adopted when 17, but though curious, he did not pursue it. Last year, however, he says he broke down. "I told my wife Marina I don't know who I am and why I do things the way I do them."
So, the search began. He found his birth certificate showing his mum as Joan Allcock and his father as unknown, and then April this year he met his half-sisters, Janet (71), Gay (65) and Ann (55) who live in Hawke's Bay, and now John.