It is not uncommon to lose touch with people we were once close to and wonder what became of them. Such was the case with two cousins from Tripoli had lost touch with each other for three decades.

Panagiotis (Peter) Melos from the United States booked a room at InioHos Hotel in Argassi, Zakynthos. The next day, a last-minute booking was made by Angela Melos, who hotelier Nikos Vossos placed in room 308 next to Peter’s room, 307.

Neither of them had seen each other since 1990, though Angela had made an unsuccessful effort to find Peter just a few weeks previously.

When Angela arrived, Mr Vossos asked her if there was a wedding on the island or whether it was coincidence that the occupant in the next room to her had the same surname.

Upon hearing the name Peter Melos, Angela let out a cry of joy because she realised that the long lost cousin she had been searching for was within her reach. Prior to her arrival, Angela had sought her cousin in Tripoli but was disappointed to hear that her cousin from Chicago had left the town to holiday at some beachfront resort, possibly in the Peloponnese.

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“Our fathers were brothers, so I went to the house but he wasn’t there,” she told Zantetimes.gr. “Neighbours told me he had gone to the beach, but nobody knew where. I was really disappointed. My father died recently and I was so upset that I couldn’t go to his village and see the house he lived in. I asked my father for forgiveness for something I was unable to do.”

When she heard that her cousin was at the hotel, her hopes soared. Peter returned from a tour of Shipwreck Beach at 10pm that night.

“I heard a knock on the door,” he said. “I opened it and saw someone I didn’t recognise. I asked who she was and the answer I got was, ‘Your cousin!’. My jaw just dropped to the ground.”

Mr Vossos could not be happier with the chain of events and the way in which they played out at his hotel. So much so that he pulled out an old bottle of wine to celebrate.

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“A story like this should be shared,” he said.