Little Ben

This picture paints more than a thousand words. Three little Newton girls are standing at the front door waiting on their brand new little brother to come home.

What a sight.

For the record, the Newton triplets and their new little brother are the children of Ben and Elizabeth Newton. They also are my parent's great grandchildren.

Baby Ben doesn’t know it yet, but he is about to begin an incredible ride. Hopefully Baby Ben will read this one day so I’ll make a few projections. Maybe he’ll give his great uncle a call at my nursing home in about 20 years and tell me if I was right.

For starters, the waiting at the front door is a sign of things to come. These three girls will be waiting at the door when he comes home from school for the first time, when he comes home from his first date and when he comes home late for the first time.

I'm sure one day they will even be waiting when he comes home for the holidays.

Little Ben will have a lot of older guys who will want to be his best friend. He’ll get to do things most 13 year old boys don’t get to do so they can be invited to spend the night with him.

He will also have a good working knowledge of PMS early in life. Early in his own marriage, Little Ben will know when to hold ‘em, know when to fold ‘em, know when to walk away and know when to run. Most guys are 10 years into their marriage before they figure all that out.

I also predict Little Ben’s future wife will not appreciate or understand why he likes to pee-pee in the back yard. He will finally confess in a marriage counseling session that the inside bathrooms were always occupied at his house when he was growing up.


This picture of the triplets lying in the floor with their little brother is also a picture of things to come. This will happen when he falls in love for the first time, when a girl breaks his heart for the first time and when he gets in trouble for the first time.

Little Ben will be petted and pampered by his big sisters all his life. There will be times when he will not appreciate the petting and the pampering and I’m sure that will result is some fussing and fighting along the way.

But when little Ben Newton calls his great uncle in about 20 years to tell me I was right, he will also tell me Southerland, Ridley and Mary Camp Newton are not only his big sisters, but they are his closest friends on earth.

I’ll be waiting on that call.

In the meantime, I’ll keep the rest of you posted as it all unfolds.