Two guys from Hawaii named Alan Robinson and Walter Macfarlane met about 60 years ago in the sixth grade.  And they’ve been close friends ever since.   But they recently found out they’re even closer than they realized.

Walter never knew his dad, and started searching for him online a few years ago.  He eventually signed up for a DNA-matching service through Ancestry.com, and found out he was closely related to another user who sent in their DNA.

The other user turned out to be ALAN . . . and they’re HALF-BROTHERS.  They were born 15 months apart and had the same mother.

Once you know they’re related, it makes sense because they kind of look alike.  But Alan was adopted and never knew his parents.  So that’s why they never figured it out.

He’d been using Ancestry.com to try to track down any family members who might still be alive.  He says he was pretty shocked when it turned out his closest living relative was one of his best FRIENDS.

They surprised their friends and family with the news at a party two days before Christmas.  Alan said it was the best Christmas present he could have imagined.

Both of them are about 70 years old now and retired.  So they’re looking forward to spending even more time together in the future.

(KHON)