Most of us have read newspaper stories about how Facebook helped tear a couple apart. In many cases, the social media site helps reunite a spouse with a former romantic interest, and in other cases, a husband or wife is caught posting inappropriate photos or comments about a new flame.

But not far from us in Denton County, Facebook helped some members of a family pull back together long after a divorce had split them apart.

Thirty-eight years ago, a Dallas man and his two sisters were separated from their father when their parents went through a divorce.

One sister said she never even knew what her father looked like.

When their parents divorced, the father moved out of the family home. The mom and kids moved, too.

For the three children, it was especially frustrating because their mother refused to tell them where their father was or even allow for him to be discussed.

“Mom would always say, ‘Don’t ask me that question anymore,'” the son told a TV reporter as tears filled his eyes.

The father said he relied on prayer through the many long years without seeing his kids.

Finally, the four of them were recently reunited after a cousin’s two-year Facebook search for people who shared their last name in the Dallas-Fort Worth area paid off.

One of the sisters said her focus now is on enjoying time with her father.

The son said he has put any bitterness over the lost years behind him.

“I’m just worried about going forward,” he said. “I would love to get to know my daddy from this day forward.”

Any parent facing the possibility of a long separation from their children as a result of a difficult divorce should speak with a family law attorney who can help forge a custody arrangement that protects parental rights and crucial relationships with kids.

Source: WFAA.com, “Facebook helps reunite family split by divorce,” Shon Gables, Oct. 6, 2013