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For the nine Baker children, ages 2 to 13, 1962 began tragically and ended triumphantly. It’s no different than the first Christmas more than 2,000 years ago.
The disaster occurred on a snowy Friday night, January 12th. Although he felt comfortable and safe at home in Battle Lake, Minnesota, his parents, Walter and Regina, were driving drunk and out in dangerous conditions.
It was a solo car accident on a lonely, cold road. There were no witnesses, but it is known that Mrs. Baker, who was driving, lost control of the pickup truck. It rolled and threw them both away. They suffocated in the snow.
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Without a will, their nine children were placed in various institutions in the area. The plight and heartbreak of the Baker Nine became a national concern as the noise made the news and the tragedy quickly spread.
Baker Nine in 1962, from left: Loretta Baker, Susan Baker, Sally Jo Myers, Jim Myers, Gerald Baker, Jeffrey Baker, Teresa Baker, Karen Myers, Timothy Baker, Pauline Baker , Monica Jo Baker, Philip Baker, Jean Embracing, New Mom.
More than 1,300 miles away in Charlotte, North Carolina, Don and Jean Myers were reading about the terrible accident. However, one sentence in the story grabbed their attention.
“The children won’t be together,” one neighbor told reporters.
“Children need parents. If these children were brought into this world together, they should be together,” a defiant Gene told Don. “We need kids. We want these kids.”
From here, the story’s many layers and providential twists begin to emerge.
The Myers have two biological daughters and have adopted three boys, two of whom are twins. When the twins’ only son drowned, Pastor J. Paul Bryon of St. Gabriel’s Church in Charlotte reached out for help. Grief can open previously closed hearts, and that’s exactly what happened. The Myers were grateful for the love and support and eventually converted to Catholicism.
So after Don Myers saw the Baker family’s story, he called his parish priest, Father Bryon, who called Friar Michael J. Begley of Catholic Charities in Raleigh. The pastor then called Catholic Charities in St. Cloud, Minn., which was handling the Baker case.
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“There’s room here in our homes and in our hearts,” Don Myers said at the time. “God has given me enough income to afford to raise my children. It’s a small return for the blessings that have been given to us.”
Viewing children as blessings and irreplaceable gifts is becoming increasingly outdated. On the contrary, modern culture too often considers it an expensive burden on babies that should be avoided. This narrow-minded thinking not only robs families of fun and fulfillment, it threatens our very existence. This is because society will perish if couples do not get married and have children.
The birth of Jesus in Bethlehem was the most famous adoption in history, and it was far from the pastoral picture depicted on cards or sung in hymns. (St. Petersburg)
On December 17, 1962, the Baker Nine arrived at Charlotte Airport and met their new parents. There were lots of smiles and hugs. The love was new, but it was true. It would make a good Hallmark Christmas movie if that was the end of the story, but that’s really where it started.
Monica Harbes, who was just 2 years old when her parents died and 3 when she arrived at the Myers home, remembers the plane ride. “I was so excited,” she told me. Monica currently operates the Harbeth Family Farm in Mattituck, on the North Fork of Long Island, with her husband Ed. She said the Myers family “ran a tight ship with a lot of rules and a lot of structure.”
The crew of 13 brothers settled into a familiar, if not challenging, rhythm and routine. Her mother, a seamstress, stayed at home and raised her children. They attended parochial schools. All was well until tragedy struck again in 1969 when her adoptive mother died of lupus.
“The family was destroyed,” Monica admitted. “Our father remarried. There were other children. There was favoritism. We all went our separate ways.” At the age of 14, Monica married her younger sister Pauline. and moved to New York to live with her new husband. It was a tough year.
But it was only by moving to New York that she met her beloved Ed. It was Ed who led Monica to the Lord, and it was Ed who led Monica to all the other good things. They have four sons, four daughters, and nine grandchildren.
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“Over the years, I had to forgive,” she recalled. “But we all have to experience forgiveness. Our family’s story is a story of redemption. It’s a little messy, but so is life.”
This December 17th, as they do every year, the original Baker family (two of whom have passed away) will connect by phone and group text message to remember and commemorate that dramatic and pivotal day in 1962. Christmas.
That’s because the birth of Jesus in Bethlehem was the most famous adoption in history, and it was far from the pastoral picture depicted on cards and sung in hymns.
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It’s a gritty story – a baby born in squalid conditions, far from fame and fortune, with an unmarried mother and adoptive father, into a broken world with a king who feels threatened and wants the baby killed.
Christmas, like adoption, reminds us that life is unpredictable, often messy, mysterious, and yet beautiful. It goes to show that one child (or nine!) can change everything for the better. It changes not just one day, but every day, and forever.
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