"I have this very strong belief that God must be."

Pok-nam Shin lived in an orphanage in Pusan, South Korea, since she was five. She knew she had a younger sister, Eun-Sook, but the girls were separated. In 1978, when she was nine, Pok-nam was adopted by an American family in Alexandria, VA, and renamed Holly. She told her new family she had a lost sister, and they wrote to the orphanage, but it had no record of a biological sister. Now 46, Holly recalls, "In my heart, I knew she was out there somewhere."

Meanwhile, Eun-Sook Shin has only vague memories of an orphanage before she was adopted by an American family from Kingston, NY, in 1976, and renamed Meagan. She became a certified nursing assistant in 2002 and began a career in healthcare. She was hired by Doctors Hospital in Sarasota, FL. last March. Holly had earned her CNA license in 1991, and was hired by Doctors Hospital last January. Both nurses were assigned to the fourth floor.

                                                                                                                   Dan Wagner/Sarasota Herald Tribune
Patients who noticed the two Korean nurses suggested they visit, in case they're from the same town. Soon Holly and Meagan discovered they had the same maiden name. "It was like too good to be true," said Holly when DNA tests confirmed they were sisters. She was excited as she texted the news to Meagan. Clinical nurse manager Julie Bennett was also surprised. "We see people's lives change on a dime up here," she said, "but typically it's with patients, not personnel." Holly suddenly became an aunt with two nieces. "I have this very strong belief that God must be. Whatever I've done, I must have done something good in my life," she said.