Call it the spirit of the holiday’s bringing families together or even just pure coincidence.

Whatever it had been, this past Thanksgiving two brothers came across the same path after loss of contact for 11 years.

“It’s a miracle to me. It really is,” Gary Ulrich told ABC affiliate KERO.

Gary decided to volunteer at a rescue mission in Bakersfield, CA, a city 2 hours away from Los Angeles. He spent that Thanksgiving morning serving meals to those in need. It just so happened that his homeless brother, Randy Ulrich, stopped by the mission that very same day. After an argument that happened over a decade ago, the brothers were finally reunited.

“I said things I shouldn’t have and he left. And over the years I’ve looked for him and it’s hard to find a needle in a haystack,” said Gary Ulrich.

Gary had believed his brother was traveling around California. However, little did the two brothers know they were actually living within an hour of each other.

“I was just living out on the streets for a while. I ended up in the rescue mission, stayed there working and volunteered there,” Randy Ulrich told ABC affiliate KERO.

Gary traveled on Thanksgiving day from his home Frazier, CA, about an hour to the rescue mission in Bakersfield. While setting the tables for a Thanksgiving meal, Gary found himself staring at his own brother.

“Low and behold I see my brother sitting there and I just about had a heart attack,” said Gary Ulrich. After a brief moment of shock, “I just went over and started giving him hugs, I was so excited. I thought I’d never see my brother again. I mean 11 years is a long time.”

To make up for a little more than a decade, Gary took his brother home that afternoon. He is now focusing on finding Randy a job, and even more important to him, making up for lost time.

As Gary put it best, “I don’t think we’re going to be fighting anymore.”