Adopted By A Family Of Former Strangers

Ruth Ann and Al Shirk, Alma Jean and I, Gladys and Jesse Yoder,
Orpha and Lloyd Gingrich, Freda Zehr, Lloyd and Beverly Wert
Siblings in the front row are in order of their age, except for
Lloyd, on the right, who should be between Ruth Ann and Alma 
Jean, and Freda, who should be between Alma Jean and Gladys.

Last Saturday Alma Jean and I attended a reunion of the remaining six members of her family (and many of their descendants) at Landis Homes near Lititz, Pennsylvania. Already deceased are her oldest brother Harold (and Mary) Wert, older sister Alene (and Mark) Yoder, and brother-in-law Vernon Zehr.

The Michael and Alma Wert family grew up in rural Juniata County, Pennsvania, at the foot of scenic Shade Mountain, and I met and married beautiful Alma Jean at Eastern Mennonite College (now EMU) in the early sixties.

All of this has blessed me in indescribable ways. The Wert family couldn't have been more welcoming, and I have bonds with them that are comparable to those of my own blood ties (By the way, I'm not related to the Delaware based Yoder brothers who married two of Alma Jean's sisters, but they also adopted me like the rest).

It's wonderful how this works. We leave our own family of origin and become united to an unrelated clan that immediately gives us new siblings, cousins, aunts, uncles, parents and a host of nieces and nephews. These chosen bonds add to the wealth of family that adds to our feeling of identity, security and great joy.

It's an amazing grace, and I can never thank God enough for it.