1967 – 1970 The Magic of Chris’s Arrival! | Laubis Family & the American Dream

“Thanks to our belief in the Lord, we were blessed with the arrival of our Chris and we move on to family life in Lincolndale.”

Well, you have been patient enough waiting for this story of the greatest part of our lives to progress. There are reasons why there was a lapse in time but they are not important. It is now 5 PM on 9/4/2022 and the ball is rolling again.

The title of this segment is “The magic of Chris arrival” and it will be “All about Chris!”

Christopher, Evelyn and Hubert

Yes! these are our given names and the ones which were on the certificate when we all became a family at the Archdiocese of New York adoption center. Yes, Chris, the greatest son anyone could have ever wanted is our adopted son. He was born on October 11, 1966 and carries the name his birth mother bestowed upon him. His middle name is August, after his adopted grandfather whom he loved dearly growing up.

So Chris is a lucky guy having two sets of parents loving and prayerfully thinking of him all his life. Lynn and Hugh were blessed with the opportunity of his presence for all our lives. So this story progresses from that initial point of time when we brought him home to live with us.

Lynn and I were married on 2/10/62 and had a great life of fun together as a couple. Chris then came into our lives and the joy and fun really began. We were living in Stuyvesant Town, Manhattan, and working in the city as well. We had lots of friends and engaged in all kinds of activities as you will see. During the 4 years till Chris came into our lives, we wished for a child but biologically that was not going to happen. Being good Catholics and knowing about our church, we sought out the adoption alternative we knew well as part of our religious upbringing. Interestingly enough, from time we applied till point at which Chris came home with us, was just about 9 months to the day. Prayers to the Lord above came through and a healthy and happy son was in our arms.

Getting to know each other in Stuyvesant Town

Of course part of the deal with the Archdiocese was that Chris would have his own room within one year. We were in a one bedroom apartment so the clock was ticking on what we will do next. My parents interestingly enough had also in 1966 take a big step and retired. When they did, they moved to their weekend/summer home in Lincolndale, upstate NY. They also that year went on a long journey back to their European roots of Germany and Switzerland. Since I grew up in that country environment as well and that Lynn and I spent a great deal of time there, it was natural instinct to purchase a house in that area. So our pursuit began. We had our parent’s home there being available to us because of their long European trip. It made sense for us to use it on our available weekends to take Chris there and look around for what the opportunities could be

There were known quantities to begin with. Living in Manhattan was expensive, Somers was a great environment, it had a great school system and Lincolndale was on a Lake which provided great year around entertainment. Most importantly, Chris would get to know his new grandparents as he was growing up and they also could share in the love of an extended family environment.

So, decision was made, house was purchased and the move was made. Here are a few slides of the house. It had a great lot size and when it was built, it was custom designed, so interior was specially different. It had 3 bedrooms, 1 bath, nice size kitchen, enclosed front porch, dining room and a great private patio out back. The living room with a great fieldstone fireplace was where we spent lots of our evening time.

Downstairs had a big long garage, all the mechanicals and a nice spot for a future train room. When I come across more pictures I will add them to our memories here. Bottom line cost was $22k.