By Michael Boriero
Local Journalism Initiative
With the United States border opening to non-essential fully vaccinated Canadian travellers on Nov. 8, many Stanstead residents are eagerly awaiting the opportunity to reunite with family members after almost two years.
Sandra Lee Wallace-Harrison told The Record that she lives a mile from the border, and her sister lives in Newport, Vermont. They used to meet up two or three times a week, she explained, but the pandemic derailed their regularly scheduled visits.
“I have not seen her, touched her, [or] hugged her since the border closed, and it really hurts you when you can’t see your loved ones,” said Wallace-Harrison, adding that she also has cousins living across the border.
The sisters are normally inseparable. They celebrate every birthday together, and they usually gather the entire family for Thanksgiving and Christmas. Wallace-Harrison said she is still holding on to gifts from the past two years, which she plans to give to her sister soon.
Although she is grateful that nothing catastrophic happened to her family during the pandemic, Wallace-Harrison noted that it has been difficult for her sister who has been unable to visit their mother’s grave in Stanstead. Their mother passed away three years ago.
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