Andy and Fred

Andy and Alfred - Their Story and Pictures of Their First Meeting

On Nov. 1 2006 Andy's son, Alfred Eugene Perryman, Jr., contacted him for the first time. On Nov 15 2006 Andy and Fred received the results of their paternity test and we all had the proof that Andy is Fred's father. We exchanged many emails and talked on the phone to each other a lot between Nov 1 and Dec 1, when Fred, Amy, and Taylor finally arrived at our home.

I kept a journal and you can read it by clicking this link A Journal of Discovery if you want all the details.

Alfred had been given up at birth by his mother, Kathryn Craft, without Andy's consent. In 1962 birth father's had no rights in the decision. Andy had never seen his son.

Many years were lost, but these two men have now made the physical contact and are joined together in more ways than one.

I honor Amy, Fred's wife, and Beth, his adopted sister, for all their relentless and hard work in making this miracle happen and in fulfilling the dreams of these two wonderful men, my husband and our new son.

The trip to Missouri was very difficult. The worst snow storm in many years caused flights to Springfield to be cancelled. Fred, Amy, and Taylor were delayed in Memphis on Nov 30 2006. Finally on Dec 1 they decided to rent a car and drive the rest of the way. We are so glad they made that decision. One month after the initial contact, we all finally met face to face.

The first time they met was in Wal-Mart because Andy was too shy to go into Shoney's.

Fred spotted Andy first, saying "There he is walking down that isle with the green hat."

Their embrace was immediate with not not a moment's hesitation.

We spent the rest of the night talking, laughing, and enjoying our new granddaughter, Taylor.

The next day we went to Branson and rode the Branson Scenic Railway.

We talked a passerby into taking our Family Picture.

Amy and I were delighted with the physical resemblance between the two but what was more exciting was the similarities in their personalities and behaviors. To the age old question, Nature or Nurture, we say Nature wins out.

That evening we attended a dinner party given by our friends, Mark and Katy Cox. Our friends Ken and Nancy Moore were also there to welcome this new family into our fold.

On Sunday morning the girls went to Branson Landing to shop while the guys stayed home and tramped around the farm.

When we got home Taylor wanted to ride the Arctic Cat. Of course Grandpa wanted her to and started out with instructions.

The initial ride was with Taylor on back and Grandpa driving. When they returned Taylor was driving and Grandpa was the passenger!

Mom and Dad (Amy and Fred) had to walk up the driveway.

Taylor loves animals but especially our horses, Jim and Joe.

We were all sad when they had to leave on Monday but look forward to many more happy times together.

Jill - Dec 8, 2006

Please be ethical and do not misuse the goodwill of others. The data presented here may be used by non-commercial entities as long as the source contributor for each piece of data is cited along with that contributor's submitter information. The data presented and the web pages herein cannot be used, copied or reproduced in any format for profit or any presentation meant to gain profit.

Please visit The Pumpkin's Roots for more information.

This website was created using Gene Stark's GED2HTML v3.6-WIN95 (Jan 2000) and Parson's Technology Family Origins 10.0 and edited using Microsoft's Front Page 2000