Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Sisters reunited after being apart since 1965

Life has a funny way of getting things done.

Sometimes it has a way of separating people forever, while at other times it throws people together for a lifetime.

Then again, life will also throw curve balls, separating people, then bringing them together again.

This is the case of Retha Murphy and Judy Weaver  sisters who hadn't seen one another for 40 years until recently.

Murphy got married on Jan. 8, 1965, while Weaver tied the knot Jan. 9, 1965. Both left their homes in Marion, Ind., Murphy going to Michigan and Weaver heading to Florida.

Murphy's husband worked for the Michigan State Park system, which kept them moving all over the state, ending up in Traverse City, where they currently reside.

Weaver and her husband left Florida, moved to Dallas then to Prescott. The sisters had no idea how to contact one another, and their husbands weren't crazy about the idea of them being in touch anyway.

Weaver, after getting divorced, found an old card with their brother, Bob Legg's, address and wrote him. It was through him she learned the whereabouts of her sister, as he had Murphy's phone number.

Weaver called Murphy and the two caught up with one another over the phone, but didn't meet in person till Murphy came down for a month-long visit.

They did swap photos, with Murphy saying Weaver looks exactly like their mother.

Weaver said she stays in touch with Legg and went to Indiana in 2003 to see their mother, who was in a nursing home. She stayed with Legg for two weeks before returning to Prescott. Murphy, though, didn't know Weaver was in Indiana at the time.

After the visit, Weaver called her mother on Mother's Day and Christmas, until she died. "Talking with Retha on the phone helped me get through the death of our mother," Weaver said. "The visit surprised her."

"Mom knew who Judy was," Murphy said. "I didn't have mom's address and my husband wouldn't let me make long-distance calls and mom moved a couple of times.

They have another brother, William Legg, whose last know whereabouts were San Francisco, Calif. He was there when the earthquake hit in 1988. Murphy contacted the sheriff's office in San Francisco and was told he was alive, but contacting the family would be up to him.

They also have a sister who was adopted out during the 1930s, Connie Jean Abney.

The sisters are different as wet and dry. Murphy is full of life and laughs a lot, while Weaver is quieter.

When asked why she hasn't made the trip to Michigan, Weaver said her health wouldn't allow it, as she suffers from emphysema and wouldn't be able to handle the climate.

While in Prescott Murphy has met some nieces and nephews, David Williams and Tammy Carter. Weaver said her nephew, Murphy's son, looks like Grizzly Adams because he's big and has a beard.

Murphy said her son, Myles, works as a sandblaster and the beard helps protect his face from the grit, as well as the weather. Murphy's daughter, Katrina, will be married next January to a Blackfoot Indian. The two, she said, met in California.

Murphy has worked at Meijer the past six years, where she loads trucks with 50 pound bags of rocks. What's interesting, though, is how she gets to and from work  the 60-year-old walks 20 miles one way daily. She said it takes 2.5 to 3 hours to make the walk, and eight hours of work is sandwiched in between the walking. "I'm a fast walker," she said.

However, she hasn't been walking as much because of injuries sustained in a car wreck on Dec. 29. Murphy's neck was broke, and she currently wears a neck brace. For two days she lay in intensive care.

Weaver said when she learned her sister wasn't coming out of the "coma" she began praying and called people to help her pray.

Murphy said she didn't wake up sooner because the doctors had given her too much morphine and she was unable to budge. But, when the morphine wore off, she woke up.

The injury doesn't keep her from walking, though. Murphy walks about five miles a day, trying to get back in shape to go back to work.

She and Weaver walked to the Picayune office from the Hale Apartments, about a mile-and-a-half. Weaver was tired and winded, while Murphy was spry and lively.

"It's been fun," Murphy said of the visit with her sister. "I harass her all the time, just like I did when we were growing up. I'm enjoying it."

Weaver insists Murphy will move to Arkansas permanently in the future. "She'll be back here with me," she said.

The have been spending their time running around, playing the keyboard and singing. The songs are mostly gospel with some light rock and country thrown in. They don't watch television because they can't agree on programming. Weaver only watches the Gaithers, while Murphy prefers science fiction and horror movies.

Murphy will be going home April Fool's Day.