Dixon Handshaw thought he was an only child for most of his life. But decades after being adopted, the 75-year-old learned he has a handful of siblings, whom he met just in time for the Christmas holidays, reports CNN.

Over the weekend, Handshaw—who lives in the US state of North Carolina—flew to Rochester, New York, where he met some of his half-siblings ahead of the family’s annual Christmas party.

“All my life, I dreamed about having siblings somewhere,” Handshaw told CNN affiliate WHAM, which captured the siblings’ first meeting at the airport on Friday. “This is my Christmas miracle."

On Saturday, Handshaw met over 50 relatives he didn’t know existed until earlier this year, he told CNN on Tuesday. The gathering, which included cousins and their children, was a welcome surprise for Handshaw, who was the only child to his adoptive parents and has no children of his own.

Born in Buffalo, New York, in 1949, Handshaw was adopted at three months old and had a happy childhood, he said, adding that his parents were honest about his adoption.

“I always wanted to find them, but New York State sealed the pre-adoption birth certificates, and it was impossible to find out,” Handshaw said.

In 2020, original birth certificates were unsealed for adopted New Yorkers following the passage of a 2019 law.

Handshaw received his original birth certificate in August of this year, he told CNN. It was then he learned the name of his biological father: Robert “Bud” Romig.

Handshaw does not know why he was put up for adoption, but he knows his father was a graduate student in Cornell University’s physics department. His mom was the department secretary, he said.

His biological mother did not have any more children, Handshaw said, but he always wondered if his father had any of his own.

Following Handshaw’s birth, Romig settled down in Rochester with a woman who had three sons of her own. Romig adopted the three boys, Handshaw said. The couple went on to have five children – four boys and a girl. Handshaw contacted Gary Romig, one of his father’s adopted sons, he told CNN.