A daughter granted her dying father his last wish - by reuniting him with his biological father in a "heartbreaking" video call just days before he passed away.
Brandi Guicciardini reunited the pair on May 7 - after almost 60 years apart.
First the loving daughter tracked down her paternal grandfather by submitting her father's pre-adopted birth certificate and ancestry test.
The 33-year-old says she still speaks to the 81-year-old everyday - and her family are planning on visiting him at Christmas to spread her father's ashes together.
The mum-of-one hopes says she hopes her father's story will inspire other adopted children to "never give up in finding their roots".
Brandi, from Oklahoma City, said finding out who his biological parents were, was one of her father's greatest wishes.
"He had been sick since December 2021 - it started with breaking his ribs when he was coughing," she explained.
"He was also in remission from cancer after being diagnosed back in 2009 with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) and lymphoma.
"Then in February this year he developed Covid-19 and pneumonia.
"Whilst he was hospital he caught Covid-19 for a second time an ended up with pneumonia again.
"During this time I remembered that my dad still didn't know who his biological father was".
Brandi's father was born in August 1964 and placed for adoption at birth.
While his birth name was James Edward Odell, when he was adopted he became Robert 'Bobby' Hadley Reinhart Jr.
Robert served in the army in 1982-1986, where he was deployed to Grenada, Caribbean island.
Brandi, who home-schools children as a living, said it wasn't until her dad was a bit older that he started to wonder about where he came from.
On January 15, 2020, the state of New York signed new legislation which allowed adopted citizens to find their biological parents.
Before this, Brandi described the process as "almost impossible".
She said: "Nine out of 10 times the state denies your request as an adopted child - but opening pre-adopted records opens the doors for so many people to find out about their biological families".
New York are only the 10th state to allow adoptees unrestricted access to their birth certificates.
In 2021 Brandi was able to pay for her dad's original pre-adopted birth certificate - which mentioned his mother's name 'Barbara Hall' but not his father's.
Brandi said: "We were able to find my Dad's half brothers through Barbara's name but unfortunately she passed away back in 1999".
After much searching, Brandi was able to determine that her grandad - her dad's biological father - was Robert Stratton, who resided in Bennington, Vermont.
She got in touch with him through the ancestry site and wound up speaking to him on FaceTime.
She said: "It was incredible - I was completely over the moon and immediately I wanted to get my dad on the phone with his real father.
"I had to do it - I wasn't going to let him down".
She made some arrangements and managed to get the pair on a video chat.
While the call was "quite quick" because of her dad's breathing issues, she was thrilled to fulfil her dad's "last wish before he passed".
"My grandfather started crying and told my dad, 'I wish I would've met you 50 years ago'.
"He never knew about my dad and I honestly believe if he did he wouldn't have let him get adopted, he would have raised him himself.
"My father replied saying, 'Well, Dad, my lungs are only working at 5% and my kidneys are shutting down - my heart is dying.
"'I'm not going to be able to come up and meet you but Brandi, mum and JoJo will visit'.
"Grandad said it was OK and they would 'meet one day'.
"Then my Dad had to get off the phone with a coughing fit - and that was the first - and last - time they ever got to speak. I felt my heart break".
Sadly, Brandi's father passed away just a few days later on May 12 - at just 57 years old.
Brandi hopes that her father's story will inspire other adopted children to "never give up".
She said: "If you are adopted and you want to know your roots, don't give up. You never know unless you try".
"Even on his death bed my daddy never gave up - so we fought to the end too. You will never know unless you try".
