A 35-year-old named Lizzie Valverde went back to school two years ago to study writing at Columbia University. A teacher in one of her classes asked everyone to introduce themselves.

Lizzie explained how she was adopted, and talked about where she came from. After class, a student named Katy Olson came over and started asking REALLY specific questions, like was she born in Florida, and was her biological mom named Leslie.

It turns out Katy was adopted too; and the two of them are long-lost sisters. Lizzie was put up for adoption around 1980, and Katy was born a year later. But Lizzie went to a couple in New Jersey, and Katy grew up in Florida and Iowa.

Katy had been trying to track Lizzie down, while Lizzie didn’t even know she HAD a sister. But she had tracked down their mother. Her name is Leslie Parker, and she’s 54. She got pregnant when she was just a teenager.

Lizzie is graduating today with a degree in creative writing, and Katy graduated with the same degree last year; and she’s going to meet Leslie for the very first time at Lizzie’s graduation.

Leslie told the “New York Times” she couldn’t be prouder, because she always wanted to be a writer too