The following teaser is from the March 4, 2014 edition of the Orlando Sentinal:
GRAND ISLAND — The missing link in the family has been found.
Born in 1957, the baby girl who connects two families belonging to a Lake County Alzheimer’s patient flew to Orlando recently so that five of nine siblings could be together for the first time ever.
The new sister, Becky Bechtel, had never met any of her other brothers or sister until Feb. 22, when she arrived at Orlando International Airport and was met by her sister, Susan Lander, 63, and their brother Tom, who lives in Hollywood, Fla.
All the children share the same mother, Helen Manfredi, 83, of Eustis. Manfredi was first married to Robert Lander of New York, with whom she had three boys and Susan. After the marriage failed, she had a daughter — Bechtel — who she gave up for adoption in Ohio. Shortly after, she married Dr. Alfred Manfredi, an optometrist, and had four more boys.
“I’ve always been the oldest of seven brothers,” said Susan, who flew in from Las Vegas. “Now, I have a sister, and she’s seven years younger than me. I called everybody in my neighborhood back home when I found out.”
