When Ardyce Aldstad went down to her usual seat for breakfast at Somerset Court in Minot in January, her morning routine was disrupted by the appearance of a strange man sitting in her spot.

“I walked over there and I told this man, ‘You’re sitting in my place.’ He said, ‘Well, that’s where they put me.’ Then he said, ‘Should I know you?’ And I looked at him, and said, ‘Lenny!” Aldstad said.

That stranger, it turned out, wasn’t a stranger at all, but, in fact, was her brother Lenny Olson, who had just moved into the facility a week or so before. Aldstad and Olson hadn’t seen each other in 16 years.

“The last time we saw each other was at our mother’s funeral,” Olson said.

The siblings say they’ve made the most of their serendipitous reunion, mending their bonds and catching up on their numerous grandchildren and great-grandchildren, primarily through daily breakfast meetups.

“He grumbles because he has to get up a little early. But we have a lot of catching up to do, and there’s a lot of things we’ve straightened out,” Aldstad said.

Aldstad and Olson and their younger brother grew up on a farm between Tolley and Donnybrook operated by their parents. The pair reminisced about milking cows and working on the farm, with Olson saying he’d had his fill of the farm life, whereas Aldstad said she loved it. Olson would go on to spend 30 years in law enforcement while Aldstad went into farming with her husband.

While the siblings generally go their separate ways after breakfast, Aldstad said she was doing her best to get her brother out of his room and involved in activities.

Somerset Court Assistant Director Amy Strand estimated she’s moved hundreds of individuals into the facility over the years but said she’s never encountered a situation quite like this one.

“I’ve moved hundreds and hundreds of people in here. I’ve moved siblings, and brothers and sisters. But I’ve never moved two people in here who haven’t seen each other in years and years,” Strand said.