Ariel Harmon stands Sunday outside her Auburn home. Harmon’s birth mother recently adopted her as an adult. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

LEWISTON — Mother’s Day this year marked a reunion between a mother and daughter after more than 20 years.

Ariel Harmon, 28, was 5 years old when she was living in Lewiston and adopted by a family in Lisbon Falls after a tumultuous home life led to her being placed in foster care.

“I had been taken away by DHS (Maine Department of Human Services), and my parents had cut off all contact and my mom had done nothing wrong,” Harmon said. “Two years ago, my adoptive parents had given me all of my paperwork, and in that paperwork I found my older brother’s name.”

Prompted by a growing rift developing with her adoptive family, Harmon contacted her brother through Facebook and began to build a rapport. She learned her brother was still in contact with most of her immediate family, including their mother, and eventually tried to connect with each of them.

“Once I was comfortable — it took me a little time — I was able to connect with my entire family,” Harmon said.

During the process, Harmon discovered she had a younger half-brother and half-sister through her mother, and an older half-sister through her father.

Coming together around her older brother’s recent marriage and young family, Harmon was able to meet her mother and her maternal half-siblings when she turned 26, reconnecting with them at local pools over their shared love of swimming and eventually moving back to Lewiston to be closer to them.

Ariel Harmon holds a pendant Sunday her birth mother gave her when they were reunited. Harmon’s birth mother recently adopted her as an adult. Andree Kehn/Sun Journal

When Harmon said closer, she did not only mean distance.

“My younger sister is named after the Disney princess from Aladdin, so I decided to take the name Ariel, and my middle name is Pebbles, which is what my mom used to call me when I was younger because she used to do my hair up like Pebbles from ‘The Flintstones,'” Harmon said.

The name change came once she was formally adopted by her mother May 3, when her birth certificate was reissued by a judge.

For Mother’s Day, Harmon and her family gathered as a large unit for a barbecue, with a few neighbors sprinkled in. She plans to have a name change, adoption and birthday celebration May 16, when she turns 29.

“We’ve been together off and on for the past two years,” Harmon said. “I’ve done my birthday last year with them, as well as Thanksgiving and Christmas.”

Her family has suggested formally adopting her around the holidays.

To commemorate the occasion, Harmon’s mother gifted her a necklace engraved with encouraging words as a  token of their relationship.

“It says: ‘I love you my daughter always. Never forget you’re stronger than you seem,'” Harmon said.