Amish family ties

If you ask Henry what he misses most about his Amish lifestyle, without missing a beat, he'll say his family.

You see, Henry is shunned from the Amish. What that means is that he chose to be baptized into the Amish church when he was about 18 years old. Because he left after his baptismal, he is now shunned. To be shunned doesn't mean what one might expect. In essence, it means he can't do business with the Amish. (I can't either for that matter because as a married couple our money is well, our money.) And he can't sit down to dinner with them, for example. But that doesn't mean he can't speak to him family. To the contrary, actually. When he sees his mother, father or siblings out, he values the conversations he gets to have with them. Does he go to their house to visit, you might ask ... The answer is no, out of respect for them, he will not. He knows they don't accept the choice he made, so he stays away. They don't want any of the other children to leave, and if he pulls up in a big truck, wearing a baseball cap, the youngsters may see value in being English and decide to leave. No one wants that, not his parents, and not us.

I wanted to ask Henry about his family. It's extremely important to him, and as I've grown to know them, I have quite a bit of respect for them. He has wonderful parents who brought him up to be the great man he is, and I thank them for that.

How many siblings do you have? "There are 11 of us. I am one of 11."

Name the children in order of age. "Daniel, myself, Lydia, John, Sarah, Mattie, Emery, Ada, Perry, Tina and Emanuel."

Are they all named for someone? "Yes."

Who are you named for? "My uncle, Henry Glick. My brother Daniel is named for an uncle, as well."

Have any of your other siblings left the Amish? Who? When? "Yes. My brother Daniel. He left a week after I did. Neither of us knew the other was leaving until we did. After I left and then after he left, we both felt sad for each other, from the standpoint of how it would hurt our parents."

Henry's mother is Mary G. Shetler. She quilts and is well known for her baking skills, selling her baked goods at the Orleans farmers' market.

Describe your mother for me. "It would probably be four words: Strong-willed, outspoken, loving and sociable. She'd talk to anybody and talk your head off."

Makes you wonder where Henry got his personality from, doesn't it?

Henry's father is Mose Shetler. When Henry was young, his father worked construction. He now runs a machine shop at his home. He also serves as the bishop for his church district.

Describe your father. "My father is very intelligent, first and foremost. He was one of those guys who was a pretty strict dad. He set a high bar for us, as far as expectations, but at the end of the day, he was very reasonable and fair."

What kind of parents were they growing up? "First of all, we had a very loving family. They were very firm, but fair and compassionate."

What was the best times you spent with your family? "Traveling with them. I have family in several states, including Missouri, Indiana, Ohio, Minnesota, Wisconsin, Mississippi, New York and even in Canada. Believe it or not, Amish travel a lot and enjoy vacations."

Where did your parents come from? "Dad was born in Canada, and mom was born in Ohio. They met in Ohio, were married in Ohio, then moved to New York, where I was born and lived until 1996 when we moved to Mitchell."