That which is lost shall be found

Kathrine Alderman
ECB Publishing, Inc.

Reunion stories are something that many people don't get to experience themselves. For most, we'll see a video or touching story about how two people who had lost each other had been reunited after a long time or are meeting for the first time in their lives. This rare experience does happen, though, and it happened recently here in our small town of Monticello.

Michael Premo was excited to learn a bit more about himself when his girlfriend, Denise Perry, bought him a DNA test from ancestry.com as a gift. Premo lives in Michigan and had never known his father. He had tried to find him before, but all he knew was that his father's name was William Foster and that Foster's father used to be a police officer in Chicago. When he took the DNA test, Premo was excited to learn more about his lineage but wasn't expecting to find his long-lost father.

After receiving the test results, Premo assumed that he was cousins with his actual sister, Laura Huffman. He reached out to her, sending her a letter saying that he thought they might be cousins. By a twist of fate, Huffman is an expert in genealogy. Though it's more of a passion for her right now, Huffman wants to be a professional genealogist. She tries to help others in situations similar to what she found herself in when Premo contacted her.

When Huffman looked at the test results, she immediately saw that Premo was wrong and that they were actually half-siblings. Ancestry.com had automatically dropped him into the child category for William Foster, as he had also taken a DNA test a few years back. Huffman immediately called her brother Scott Foster and told him about it. They decided they would tell their father first before giving all the information to Premo, as he may not want to meet him or in case something was going on.

As soon as William heard about it, he was desperate to meet his long-lost son. Michael Premo was the result of a teen fling that Willaim had had with Premo's mother, but, due to circumstances, William didn't really know about his son. Afterward, he met his current wife, Lois Foster, and they had children and eventually moved here to Monticello.

As soon as Huffman got the go-ahead, she called Premo and informed him that she was actually his sister. As soon as they worked everything out, Premo loaded up into his truck and drove down from Michigan to Monticello to meet the family he never knew he had.

Since he's come here, Premo and William have had a blast getting to know each other, and Premo says he's the happiest he's ever been. Not only did they get to spend Easter together, but they were also able to celebrate Premo's 59 birthday while he was down. Along with all the festivities, Premo has loved getting to know all about his newly discovered family.

Michael Premo was born in 1962. He was never able to find his father because William and Lois had moved to Florida in 1968, living in South Florida and then moving to Monticello and settling here for the past 22 years. Interestingly enough, Premo and his mother, who passed away 6 years ago, had lived in South Florida for a while, while the Fosters were also living there. Premo also lived in Valdosta, Ga., for a while, as the Fosters lived here. "We could have passed each other and never known it," William said of the coincidence.
Not only did Premo get to meet and know all of his family here in Monticello, but he also traveled to Tampa to meet his sister, Lauren Huffman, as well. Even more, he learned that he has family on his father's side that lives only about seven miles from where he lived in Michigan. William's sister and a large amount of their family live there.

Something they all agree on is that the Lord was involved in all of this. Everyone in the family has been so happy to meet Premo, and Premo likewise has adored getting to meet a close family he never knew he had. They are now amazed at what can be found just by taking a simple genealogy test and encourage everyone to try it. They said you may not always get the rosey outcome and happy ending that they did—it may be good, it may be bad—but it can help give closure to those who need it, heal wounds and help you get to know who you are.

For them, William related it to the three parables in Luke 15 in the Bible, the lost sheep, the lost coin and the lost son, saying that which is lost will be found and there will be great rejoicing.