Skip to main content

Lynda's Story

One of the calls we received on #GivingTuesday was from “St. Ann’s Alum” Lynda Anderson. Here is Lynda’s story:

“My parents got the call from St. Anns that would change their life and my life forever in March of 1954.  A precious little bundle of joy was waiting for them at the orphanage. I was 10 months old.  So many prayers were answered with that one phone call. Dad would tell the story years later of how, in December of 1953, at the annual St. Anns Christmas party, he spotted me in a crib and commented in private to my mother, that I looked so familiar… how I resembled several of his nieces.  Can you imagine the thrill when they got the call just a few months later that the same little baby girl was waiting for them to adopt!   I do not believe in coincidences…it was surely the handiwork of God.

“My parents adopted 2 other children from St. Anns after me….my brother and sister.  All three of us were made to feel so special…like we had been hand chosen to be a part of such a loving family.  We also became part of a large extended family of many aunts and uncles and 35 first cousins on just our fathers side alone.  We were always aware of our connection to the St. Anns family.  We continued to support St. Anns by attending functions and volunteering as a family as we got older. 

“It is a natural outgrowth of this that I still feel such a connection to St. Anns.  St. Anns is a part of who I am today.  My husband and three grown sons have come to know what St. Anns means to me throughout the years.  We are all forever grateful, especially during this Holiday season of Thanksgiving and Christmas, for the beautiful life I was given as a result of my adoption.  After all, my own family would not exist had it not been for the work of St. Anns along with some help from the Lord above.  For me, St. Anns will always represent a place where miracles happen every day and it is a constant reminder that there are no coincidences.”

Lynda Schrider Anderson
St. Ann’s Alum, 1954
Clarksville, MD