A Tappan woman in her 60s is set to meet her biological sister for the first time this March.

Penny Cardenas didn't know she was adopted until she was 45. Once she found out, she went on a search for her biological parents and siblings.

Two years ago, Cardenas says her friends surprised her with a DNA test from Ancestry.com.

"They said, 'Take it, we want you to find your family,'" Cardenas says.

The Rockland County woman found a match for an older sister named Stacy who was living in Utah. An independent organization confirmed the two were sisters, and Cardenas and Stacy started talking by phone nearly every day.

Stacy told Cardenas that her biological mother had died years ago just several hours away from Tappan. She says she was devastated but now is excited to meet her sister in Utah.

"When my husband bought the tickets, I couldn't stop crying," Cardenas says. "I was so excited."

She says she wants to inspire other people to never give up trying to find their family.