When Lena was a teenager, she was forced to place her baby for adoption. But She finally got to look into her daughter’s beautiful eyes after 82 years.

Betty Morrell had never met her biological mother. And at the age of 82, she thought meeting her mother would be nearly impossible… until it actually occurred.

Betty, from Spring Hill, Florida, began looking for her mother after her adoptive parents died in 1954. She was determined to meet her, so she worked tirelessly to track her down and get to know her.

She did everything she could to help. She even hired private investigators to track down more information about her biological mother’s whereabouts.

“I hired private investigators, called adoption agencies, and wrote letters to anyone who could have helped me,” Morrell tells PEOPLE. “I believe in fate, and I believe we were meant to meet at the right time.”

Betty and her biological mother were clearly meant to meet.

Betty finally made significant progress and learned the identity of her birth mother after decades of various unsuccessful efforts. She immediately made plans for them to meet.

Betty got to look into the eyes of her birth mother, Lena Pierce, who was 96 years old, for the first time since her birth.

Betty was born to Lena in Utica, New York in 1933. She was only 13 at the time. She was a ward of the state, and when she gave birth to Betty, she named her child Eva May.

Lena had six months with Betty before the state gave the baby away to Betty’s adoptive parents. Betty was an only child in their care, but she had no idea her parents were not her biological parents.

“One day, a neighbor kid approached me and asked, ‘You know you’re adopted, right?'” she recalls. “I didn’t know what that meant, so I asked my mom, who explained everything by saying I was chosen by them and very special. My family made me feel so at ease that I didn’t realize I was adopted until I was in my twenties.”

Betty was interested in her ancestors and wanted to know who her birth parents were.

The first thing she did was return to the adoption agency in New York that handled her case, and from there she made various efforts to obtain more information. She eventually obtained her birth certificate and a letter in which she learned about her mother.

She made little progress after that because her adoption papers were all sealed, making it impossible for her to obtain crucial information that would lead her to Lena.

“I had almost given up when my granddaughter Kimberly signed me up for Ancestry.com,” she said. “We then began working together on this mission.”

Betty’s persistence paid off because the reunion she thought would never happen became a reality.

It had taken decades for them to finally embrace each other. Betty couldn’t believe what she was witnessing.

“She cried and hugged me and said, ‘It’s been so long,'” she explained.

Betty and Lena met at New York’s Binghamton Airport. Betty’s granddaughter, Kimberly Miccio, expressed her grandmother’s eagerness for the reunion.

“I spent summers with grandma, and she’d always tell me stories about her big journey to find her mother,” Kimberly tells PEOPLE. “So I assisted her in searching through family history websites online.”

Kimberly finally received a call from Lena’s family as a result of her relentless online search, which she immediately responded to.

Betty finally met her birth mother at the age of 82, and it was surreal.

When the reunion occurred, Lena was with her two daughters. Betty is overjoyed to meet not only her mother, but also her sisters. She discovered she had four!

This is truly a once-in-a-lifetime reunion. It only goes to show that good things do come to those who wait. Even though Lena died months after their reunion, we all know she was happy because she got to meet her first child before saying goodbye.

What an incredible story! Watch the video below to learn more about this incredible reunion.