Meet My Family...Last But Not Least...BEN

The youngest member of my immediate family: my little brother Ben.

Ben is short for Ebenezer: "Hitherto hath the LORD helped us," 1 Samuel 7:12. I think that Ebenezer is a great name for the youngest child in a large family. :) But I digress. For years Ben was called Joe (short for Josiah, his middle name) but when he reached his teens he decided that he preferred to be Ben. Certain of us objected to the abrupt name change, but as he suddenly became selectively deaf when addressed by the name Joe, we eventually acquiesced.

Ben works in a welding shop on the east side of Houston, helping to build custom railings for million-dollar yachts. As Ben is mechanically inclined, the work suits him, and he seems to enjoy it (though I don't think he enjoys the 45-minute drive to and from work every day). Ben has always had an eye for mechanical things. I remember that when he was small, he would draw intricate illustrations of machines like, for instance, a windmill, complete with all the gears and parts.

Ben was not the easiest child for Mom to homeschool because he wasn't fond of worksheets and assignments. However, he turned out a well-educated young adult just the same, because he soaks up loads of information on his own time. For instance, I often find him reading Wikipedia articles about things that interest him. As a Wikipedia fan myself, I highly approve. :) Not that he cares whether I approve, but anyway... As a result of his extensive reading, Ben often has interesting facts to share about a surprising number of topics, from classical music to current events to cars, etc. etc.

Ben is a talented guitar player, though with his current job, he doesn't have a lot of free time to play. He spends his free time reading, thinking, fixing himself plates of food that always smell very interesting, concocting complicated coffee drinks, doing errands and yard work, etc.

I think Ben has a soft spot for dogs. He has taken all dog-related chores upon himself, and on his days off, he will often take Juneau (our Husky mutt) for long walks of several miles. Ben seems to like those solitary walks. His longest walk to date: 25 miles (though that was actually an accident--he got lost).

Ben's other soft spot, recently, is for babies. His nieces, anyway. He can often be spotted at church holding or talking to Olivia or Shona. They seem to enjoy it. :)

As of last November, Ben is 20 years old! Wow, hard to believe that the baby of the family is out of his teens. And that concludes the series about my family!