Children of the River: Growing up with 18 brothers and sisters along the Susquehanna

Experience a life that few people live today. It’s a life filled with physical risk requiring each member to work—and play—for the good of the whole. Told with refreshing forthrightness, this tribute and memoir is a heartwarming story of 19 children growing up in a Mennonite home and farming community. The Susquehanna River is the touchstone for recollections of obstacles, triumphs, and challenges in a large, loving household. Binding the family together are parents with unshakable values; songs at every turn; and the constant demands of farm life. Experience your feet touching the cold bedroom floor on a winter morning—sharing a single bathroom—surviving a flood—driving tractor at the age of five—feeding winter-born lambs by the cookstove—high spirits and teasing—discovering a nest of baby rabbits—and the care-filled guidance of parents with nearly opposite dispositions. Love, connection, and faith formed and continues to sustain this family. This story is beautifuly told by one of the family members: Rose Stoltzfus Huyard.