Jackie and sons bridge 12-year gap with hugs & tears

Blood is, indeed, thicker…

Mother’s Day this year (Sunday, May 13) will be far more memorable to Jackie Forster for a very special reason ­— she and sons Kobe and Andre have finally reconciled, bridging a gap of more than 12 years with hugs and tears.

“Being reunited with Andre and Kobe feels like I just gave birth again,” Jackie recounted to her good friend Jojo Gabinete who scored a “scoop” for PEP.ph. “It’s like that feeling again, seeing your kids for the first time. That’s exactly what I felt when I saw Kobe for the first time and then with Andre. We are all happy. We are okay but we just wanna move forward and we just wanna move on in peace.”

In a brief phone chat with Jackie as I was writing this story, she said that many people perhaps were thinking that all the while, she was trying to reach out to her sons only through social media. 

“We have been communicating via Viber and Facetime,” added Jackie who came home to personally meet Andre after she reunited with Kobe in LA last January. “I’ve been praying and praying for this and I knew deep in my heart that my prayer would be answered.”

As Jackie told Jojo, Kobe (who was in California) called Jackie (who was in London with her husband, Dutch businessman Michel Franken, and their three children) last Jan. 22 at 6:30 a.m.

“We had a 40-minute conversation,” narrated Jackie. “I was confused. I thought he had a problem.”

Kobe’s first words were, “Ma, it’s me, Kobe. How are you?”

The last time mother and sons were together was 12 years ago

Breaking into tears, Jackie answered, “I’m better now because I’m really happy with my life, but I’m just tired….Tired because it’s not easy to take care of kids in different countries, traveling all the time with no family or friends to help.”

Jackie and family first lived in Singapore where her husband was detailed. Then, they moved to Kuala Lumpur before they settled down in London. (As per court order, before meeting Michel and living abroad, Jackie could see Andre and Kobe on weekends, “Off and on,” until she wasn’t allowed [by whom she didn’t say] to see them again. All the while, thanks to social media, Jackie said that she kept track of Kobe, including when he was offered a scholarship as basketball player at Creighton University in California.)

To make a long emotional story shorter, mother and son met in LA, with the consent of Michel who made arrangements for Jackie’s trip to LA.

“Everything felt like a dream,” Jackie told Jojo. On Jan. 25, three days after they talked on the phone, Jackie and Kobe met, at last! “I felt like I was floating. If it was a dream, I didn’t wanna wake up. As soon as I arrived in LA, I rented a car, drove for one hour and a half in traffic, checked into a hotel, took a quick bath and drove to Kobe’s school. He slept with me in the hotel and we just talked and talked until dawn when it was time for him to go back to school.”

Meanwhile, Andre was exchanging text messages with Kobe, asking Kobe to tell their mom that he missed her and felt sorry that he couldn’t fly to LA because he was busy with work. Kobe came home and Jackie went back to London. They continued exchanging phone calls.

“Andre and I did Facetime last February,” said Jackie. “During my Easter trip to LA, we would talk almost every day, chat-chat kami ganoon.” 

Jackie arrived in Manila on April 27. Kobe invited her to watch his game.

“There was a lot of nervous energy initially,” Jackie described her first meeting with Andre. “It felt weird. He’s bigger than me now. He has a beard and moustache, and big manly hands. The last time I hugged Andre was a long time ago, when he was small like Jared, my third son.”

To use a cliché, all’s well that ends well. Indeed, blood is thicker than whatever.

Reunited, at last! Jackie Forster and son Kobe when they met in LA.

This is Jackie’s latest post on her IG:

When you have little pieces of you walking around on earth, all you can do that makes the biggest difference is to pray for them. When your heart beats in tune with your prayer, their Homing Device will activate, eventually they come home.

This is all that matters now, that we are together again, no matter what anyone says. @kokoparas will always be Mama’s hero. Thank you to kuya @andreparas for taking good care of him (Kobe) while Mama was away. God is soooogood!

I told you all -- #prayerswork.

I ask for everyone to please respect their privacy now, we have shared so much of our personal lives with everyone and we want to take this time to heal and bond. No more bashing please. We lift you up in prayers and speak blessing upon you all.

The boys and I do not want to dwell on the past.

(E-mail reactions at [email protected].  For more updates, photos and videos, visit www.philstar.com/funfare  or follow me on Instagram @therealrickylo.)