Historically when two Mennonites met for the first time there was a tradition so common that it has developed its own moniker: the Mennonite Game. The goal of the game is simply to make family connections. It might start out with something like “Oh, Harold Kauffman……from Lancaster. You’re not related to Jim Kauffman who runs the furniture shop there?” And all too often it might end with something like “Sam Yoder? That’s actually my grandfather’s cousin’s nephew. I guess we’re related!” (“All too often” because Mennonite genealogies are notoriously intertwined. My own genetic results from 23andme constantly predict relatives to be more closely related than they really are….because we share more DNA than is typical of that relationship.)
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