HALF-SISTER: JOZY (26)

HALF-SISTER: mary (38)

Home Location: DENVER, CO

It doesn’t take a keen eye to see that half-sisters Jozy and Mary couldn’t be more opposite. Jozy is drop-dead gorgeous (and she knows it,) she’s even modeled for Vogue in Italy. She’s outgoing, the life of the party and confident in the fact that she could get any man that she wants based on her looks and personality. On the other hand, Mary Sue is 400 lbs and has become a plus-sized advocate, sharing her view that we are all just souls living in “avatars” so why judge others based on their looks? She comes from a small town in Kansas and raised with small, hometown values. A stark contrast to her fast-paced, model-esque “city-fied,” sister…

The interesting fact about these half-siblings is that they didn’t grow up together so they don’t really know the extent of their differences (or their similarities) because they don’t really know each other, until now… Mary and her teenage, twin-daughters recently moved to Denver (where Jozy and her family lives) to be closer to family. This is the half-sister’s opportunity to form a relationship as very opposite adults. The question is: will their differences bring them together or drive them apart?

Jozy and Mary’s shared father abandoned both their families, leaving them each to grow up without a dad for most of their lives. Apart from this similar experience (and shared, resulting trauma), Jozy and Mary’s upbringings were totally different. While Jozy is super outgoing, athletic and could always be found on the sports fields during her school days in Colorado, Mary grew up in modest, rural Kansas. Where Jozy came from an upper-class family of privilege and opportunity, Mary came from a country, lower-middle class family who rarely visited “big cities.”

The differences between Mary and Jozy also extends to their respective families. Mary has two brothers who live close by her in Denver. These brothers are goofy, misfit party-guys who are self-described blue-collar dudes, raising kids and doing their best to be good people. Mary has full custody of her twin daughters and isn’t in touch with her ex-husband. Mary’s mother is no longer alive, deepening the importance of what remaining family she does have. Jozy’s family consists of her mother Antoinette who is a type-A real-estate agent who lives by the book and is rarely seen partying or letting an expletive slip her mouth. Antoinette did re-marry and had one more child from that relationship but has since been divorced and is currently single. Jozy’s grandmother is a prim and proper lady who she takes to lunch and Jozy’s younger brother has enjoyed a life of privilege and leisure. Each of these clans both live in the same neighborhood! It’s a melting pot and place of two different worlds and two different worlds coming together.

Jozy loves to party, be wined and dined, and has an appreciation for nice things while Mary Sue didn’t even know what a Michael Kors bag was when her ex gave one to her as a gift! Jozy dreams of living in a huge mansion in the city with the hottest husband, while Mary would be happy in a small cabin in the middle of the woods. Jozy loves to exercise and is extremely active, often found playing pickle ball. Mary hates to exercise and doesn’t understand what pickle ball is. Despite all these differences, Jozy and Mary Sue share something in common: they are both bi-sexual and recently single from long relationships. They are sure to lean on each other as they navigate the exciting but uncharted territory of the dating world.

Jozy and Mary’s relationship does have some turbulent history that impacts their current relationship. While their father was alive, Jozy called him out for not being a present, responsible and loving dad. Dad was offended and thought Jozy was ungrateful and posted their conversation, blasting Jozy on social media. At the time Mary Sue defended her father, not Jozy, which significantly hurt Jozy’s feelings. This resulted in Jozy and Mary not speaking for five years. Although the two are cordial, there is still a wall between the two and they have never really healed since then, an incident that still impacts their relationship to this day.

Mary has uprooted her entire life to live in Denver, hoping that it would be a home to her and her two daughters. She also hoped that she would deepen her relationship with Jozy and that side of their family. She’s invested a lot of time and money in the hopes that the relationship would work, but the truth is: anything can happen. They don’t have a close relationship now and they have suffered turbulence in the past, so it’s very possible that the future only holds uncertainty. Mary has stated that the only thing keeping her in Colorado is her family, if something changed, she would move back to Kansas.