"Today I would love to scream out to the world the praise of my Lord and Savior, my Father, my counselor, my redeemer. He has showed me the power of his glory over these past few months as he has saved me through the power of the prayers of many for my recovery from pneumonia and Covid19.  He then blessed me with the reunion of my biological family through  23andMe, a DNA website. 

For those who don't know, my identical twin brother and I were adopted. About a year ago I submitted my DNA to 23andMe in the hope that I might find a blood relative that could lead me to my mom or dad, if they were still alive, and any other siblings that I might have.  After a year of not getting any real hits other than 4th, 5th cousins because we shared a genetic marker or two, I decided that the search was over.  During the months of March and April I was hospitalized with Corona virus and acute pneumonia. I was not expected to survive. By God's grace I did and I firmly believe that. While in the hospital I decided to delete my 23andMe account. When I was finally released and got home, I went through my phone to clear up my hundreds of emails that had accumulated during my hospital visit. As I was going through my deletion process I spotted an email from 23andMe that simply noted that I had a close relative who was trying to connect with me. 

I thought, "What the heck, why not?"  I downloaded the 23andMe app again in the hope that my login would still work. It did, and I received a message from a young lady noted by 23andMe as being either my first cousin or my niece. To say my heart leapt would be an under statement!  I opened the message an began to read the words which filled my heart with such joy! It read,  "I know this is going to sound weird but my Grandmother gave birth to a set of twins in 1962 who she was forced to give up for adoption, named Walter and William. I think you might be my lost uncle."   At first I was skeptical because the information was too similar to what I had written in my bio portion of my 23 & Me profile. We talked and this beautiful young lady named Alyssa told me of my mom, and mentioned that I had a sister (her mom named Michele) and two brothers, Christopher and Donald. I gave her my information (email and phone number) and told her to feel free to pass it on. 

My wife and I and my twin were so excited about this. I started texting back and forth with Michele who sent pictures of my mom and siblings. I was overwhelmed by the resemblances in all of us. Eventually we connected through video messenger on Facebook, which was awesome because I got to see my mom in person for the first time! I was so filled with joy! There sat this 82 year old woman who brought me into this world. My brother joined on the next video call the next day. Then, on the next video call our two other brothers joined in. This became a group messenger with all the siblings.  I remember in my prayers during this time, "Thank you Jesus, if it be your will..."  

Evenually we all agreed Mom on the need to do a DNA test on my mom, through 23andMe. Michele ordered the test and sent it in. We continued to video message over the following couple weeks, awaiting the results.  We were all convinced that this was real.  This past Thursday we were blessed with what we already knew to be true: we were a family!! We could not have been any happier.  We arranged a Zoom call with all of us so we could announce the results to Mom. She didn't stop smiling the whole time. She had one question:  "When are you two coming for a vist?" 

If you ever loose your faith, if you ever doubt God's works, I invite you to read this story a few times, that you may come to see where God's hand and blessings are evident.  I was returned to this world during the Easter season, and this past Father's Day weekend, after 58 years, I was further blessed with reconnecting with my biological family.  My heart is so full and my thankfulness for Jesus is so bountiful. I hope and pray that your Father's day and every day are filled with joy and Love of Christ. God Bless and keep all of you."

Walter Touchette