The call came on Christmas Eve 1974, almost exactly nine months after Ralph and Marilyn Kerr, who were already raising two biological sons in Fairport, began the process of trying to adopt a child from overseas.
The Kerrs always found that nine-month time frame appropriate and perhaps a bit karmic, "Because that's how long it takes to make a baby," Ralph said with a smile.
Informed that a 5-year-old Korean girl was available to adopt, the Kerrs could not believe their Christmas miracle. The whole family flew to New York City six days later, and there she was, the little girl from Seoul, wrapped in a winter jacket and carrying a bag that contained a pair of shoes, pretty much all she had in what to that point had not been a very pleasant life.