Darrell Greer
Northern News Services

Rankin Inlet (Aug 10/05) - The sound of wedding bells in Rankin Inlet this past month led to a joyous reunion between family members.

Joyce Ayaruak's oldest son Shawn Ottarson, 38, travelled to China with his fiance, Lily, two years ago.

Maureen Ayaruak has always had a special bond with her oldest brother, Shawn Ottarson. The two were recently reunited when Shawn flew into Rankin from China for their brother's wedding.

He hadn't seen his sisters, Shannon Ottarson, 32, and Maureen Ayaruak, 22, since he left.

And he hadn't seen his brother Kelly Adams, 27, since 1995.

Shawn received the invitation to Kelly and Mikki VanEindhoven's wedding with a heavy heart because he thought the combination of logistics and finances would make it impossible for him to attend.

His sadness soon turned to joy, however.

"Because couples in China are only allowed to have one child, his fiance's family understood the importance of only having the one brother and didn't want him to miss one of the biggest days in his brother's life," says Joyce.

"Her family gave him a round-trip ticket to Winnipeg as a gift and my husband (Joachim) and I got him the rest of the way."

Huge surprise

The family kept Shawn's visit a secret to surprise his sisters and the groom to be.

After shocking Shannon at the Winnipeg airport, it was time to surprise Maureen and Kelly in Rankin.

Maureen has an especially tight relationship with Shawn and couldn't believe her eyes when she saw him approaching the entrance of the Rankin airport.

To say it was an emotional reunion would be an understatement.

"I couldn't understand why this big guy was carrying my sister's luggage and then he looked at me and smiled and I just couldn't believe it," says Maureen.

"I hugged him and didn't want to ever let go.

"It was so special to have him here. I watched all his films from China and spent as much time with him as I could."

Kelly, not knowing his brother had arrived, wasn't let in on the surprise until the following morning when Shawn, Joyce and Shannon arrived at his home.

When Shawn stepped out from behind his sister to say "Hi there," Kelly's mouth almost dropped to the floor.

"All he could manage was 'Oh man, oh man,' and then the hugging began and the tears started flowing," says Joyce.

"When the wedding was over, Kelly told me even if they hadn't received a single other wedding gift, having Shannon from Winnipeg and Shawn from China at their wedding was present enough."

Talking about his relationship with his youngest sister, Shawn says a special bond developed between them despite the 17 year age difference. "It's hard to put into words, but the bond between Maureen and I was special right from the start and just seemed to keep getting stronger," says Shawn.

"We have a special little song (You are my sunshine) we sing together and when I sing it she cries and when she sings it to me over the phone, I cry - it's just one of those things.

"She tries to sing our song to her own daughter but every time she tries, she starts to think about me and starts crying. So, yeah, I guess you can say we have a very special bond."