Linda was adopted a few weeks before Christmas in 1959, by Robert and Virginia. Things were a little different with adoptions back then. There was no picking the family or the child, so when Robert and Virginia got the call in the middle of the night, they hastily prepared to go pick Linda up. As it was, the foster home Linda had been placed in had broken out in chicken pox, and the directors did not want Linda to get sick. Robert and Virginia made the trek to Chicago in a snow storm, promptly coming home with a new baby in their arms.
Like many couples, Robert and Virginia were not planning to initially adopt, and were in their late 30s by the time they chose Linda to be a part of their family. They had attended Moody Bible Institute with the hopes of becoming missionaries, but due to Robert’s asthma no missionary agency would send them. Virginia reflected on this with Linda, sharing how if they had gone to be missionaries they would never have adopted Linda and her older brother.
When Linda was in kindergarten, the family moved to Santa Barbara, California, where Linda and her brother spent happy years growing up in the sun. Her father had a stable job as a Controller, and her mother spent her time volunteering and participating in church activities. Linda shares that she and her brother call themselves “golden children” as they had a wonderful childhood. While her parents have now both passed away, she recalls how they were loved by all and were continuous supporters of ECFA.
In reflecting back on her life, Linda shares her gratefulness for being placed in her family. “God can handpick your family and put you together. You don’t know the future that you’re supposed to have together.” She’s thought about where her brother and her would be if they had not been adopted by her parents. Linda encourages families who can’t have kids to consider adoption, and that it is the greatest joy in the world, remembering her mother’s sweet words to her, “If I had biological kids, I would not have had you.”