The following was excerpted from the Deseret News. To read the full article, CLICK HERE.
The feeling of anticipation was eating through Belle Barbu.
It was Nov. 14, 2019. The 25-year-old Washington, Washington County, resident had traveled to Italy and was moments away from meeting her birth family.
The last time Barbu’s birth parents had seen her was the day she was born in a Romanian hospital. But even after their baby girl vanished, the family never stopped praying or believing that God would bring her back to them.
The special reunion, decades in the making, was made possible with the help of Operation Underground Railroad.
The gathering, full of tears and tender hugs, later reminded Barbu of the final scene in the Disney movie “Tangled,” when Rapunzel meets her parents, she said.
“I was literally taken from my parents like she was and taught a whole different life,” Barbu said. “I still don’t know how to thank the Lord for bringing us back together. How did he make that happen? It was such a miracle. … There’s nothing perfect about my story, but yet, it came together so perfectly.”
The story behind Barbu’s mysterious origins has only unfolded in recent years.
To read the full article, CLICK HERE.
