It’s been years since Margaret Josephs has seen two of her three stepchildren. But, in an exclusive interview with Life & Style, the Real Housewives of New Jersey star, 50, revealed that she and her estranged kids are on their way to healing. According to the Bravo newbie, there is now “some sort of connection.”

“I’m still hopeful,” Margaret told us on Wednesday, Jan. 17, at a “Meet the Queens” event for RuPaul’s Drag Race All Stars Season 3 in NYC. “And when I say my children don’t speak to me, I only have issues with two currently and with those two, we’re healing.”

The Macbeth Collection designer continued, “It’s not like we’re shunned from each other. It’s just not the same. We don’t have holidays together, but there’s text messages, there’s some sort of connection. It’s not like, ‘I don’t want anything to do with her.’ There’s a lot of love there, but we’re broken and we’re trying to fix it.”

And Margaret told Life & Style that by sharing her story, she’s hoping to help other fractured families mend. “I think a lot of people have family situations that they’re embarrassed to discuss, or they feel ashamed by what’s going on in their family,” the pigtail enthusiast said. “Families aren’t perfect and I think a lot of people see us on TV and think, ‘Oh, they have this great life.’ But what they don’t know is there is also a lot of pain and suffering. All families aren’t perfect and if I can help someone else heal by sharing my emotions, that means the world to me.”

As fans are well aware, Margaret first spoke about her disjointed relationship with her stepchildren on a November episode of RHONJ, during a particularly emotional meeting with co-star Dolores Catania. “You know when they say time heals all wounds? It doesn’t,” she tearfully said of her stepchildren, whom she raised after marrying now-ex-husband Jan Josephs at age 24. “There’s always that piece missing.”

The blonde beauty — who divorced Jan in 2013 after nearly 20 years of marriage — went on to explain that her two stepkids initially ceased communication after she left their father for her now-husband, Joe Benigno. Despite their split, Margaret and Jan remain on good terms. On the Wednesday, Jan. 4, episode of RHONJ, Jan assured his former spouse that their kids will eventually come around. “It will be [OK],” he said.

These days, Margaret is starting to believe that more and more. “There’s always going to be that connection,” she told Life & Style. “I know it will all work itself out. You know what they say: It’ll all be OK in the end and if it’s not OK, it’s not the end.”

Part 2 of The Real Housewives of New Jersey Season 8 reunion airs on Bravo Wednesday, Jan. 24, at 9 p.m. EST.