Abby Bennethum of Laureldale is pregnant with her third child.
She says she got pregnant back in June or July just before her husband, U.S. Army Reserve Staff Sgt. Brett Bennethum, deployed to Iraq with the 733rd Transportation Company, based in Reading.
"I've heard of deployment babies, but I never thought I'd be having one," Abby said.
If Abby's daughter Paige, who turned 4 last week, is any indication, Abby is going to have her hands full.
Abby was wrestling with her second daughter, Lena, 10 months, when I spoke to her.
Staff Sgt. Bennethum got a four-day pass just before the 733rd deployed in July, and Abby bundled the kids into the car drove down to Fort Dix, N.J., to pick him up and spend some quality time before he left for Iraq for a one-year tour of duty.
Staff Sgt. Bennethum and his men are transporting supplies and soldiers back and forth in Iraq.
Abby said she could tell me what part of Iraq her husband is in, but then she'd have to kill me.
When Abby and the kids got to the base, Staff Sgt. Bennethum unbelted Paige and lifted her out of the car. Almost immediately his commanding officer ordered the soldiers to fall in.
"Gotta go," Staff Sgt. Bennethum said as he joined his fellow soldiers in formation.
What he didn't realize was that Paige was hot on his heels.
When he got into formation, Paige grabbed onto his right hand and wouldn't let go.
"I called to her a couple of times, but she wouldn't budge," Abby said. "I don't know if the officers didn't see her because they were in the back row, or they simply didn't say anything about her being there."
"She just wouldn't let go of him," she said.
I'd like to think Staff Sgt. Bennethum's commanding officer saw Paige and decided that her being there was just fine.
Abby's third child is scheduled to arrive in March.
Staff Sgt. Bennethum will still be in Iraq.
It's going to be the first time he wasn't there for the birth of one of his children.
Abby said she's exploring video-conferencing and other options.
"I know some of the families are using Skype (an Internet-based video phone service) but I haven't been able to do anything like that because our computer isn't working right," Abby said.
So, if you're reading this on www.readingeagle.com, Staff Sgt. Bennethum, the girls say hello.
Update: 10/7/2009 2:07:00 PM
If a picture paints a thousand words it can also inspire and break hearts.
I felt at once inspired and heart broken when I first saw the photo of 4-year-old Paige Bennethum defying military tradition to stand with her father and hold his hand as he stood in formation preparing to deploy to Iraq with the U.S. Army Reserve's 733rd Transportation Company of Reading.
It ran with my Kelly's Korner column in the Reading Eagle.
Staff Sgt. Brett M. Bennethum of Laureldale said it may have been the proudest moment of his life.
In an e-mail from his base in Iraq, he also revealed that it wasn't the first time that Paige has broken with Army tradition.
"When we began the mobilization process I was briefing the new soldiers and as soon as I left the podium she pushed a chair up to it and started telling everyone to listen up and do things," Staff Sgt. Bennethum wrote.
The thought of the little girl in the gingham sundress barking commands to the soldiers conjures memories of Shirley Temple in "The Little Princess".
"She went up to one of the other soldiers and said 'get your hands out of your pockets.' It was pretty funny and cute," he said. "She loves the army."
I've tried twice to write about that photo, but still can't do it justice.
Updated 10/08/09
I’ve heard the stereotypes about Berks Countians being cheap.
They throw nickels around like manhole covers, have deep pockets and short arms, even water won’t trickle from their hands, are a few sayings I’ve heard.
Well, I’m here to tell you that Berks residents are some of the most generous folks I’ve met.
Take the case of the Bennethum family of Laureldale.
We ran a photo of 4-year-old Paige Bennethum holding her father’s hand as he stood in ranks waiting to deploy to Iraq.
At the very end of the item, I wrote that Paige’s mother, Abby Bennethum, told me her husband, Staff Sgt. Brett M. Bennethum, would be in Iraq until July and that he was going to miss the birth of their third child.
The Bennethums have a second daughter, Lena, 10 months.
Abby also mentioned she wanted to set up some kind of computer video conference so her husband could see the baby when it is born, but that her home computer wasn’t cooperating.
Well, that’s all it took to open the floodgates.
I came in Tuesday morning to about 30 e-mails and phone calls from folks commenting on the picture of Paige holding her dad’s hand as he stood in formation and offering to either fix or help replace the Bennethums’ home computer.
Abby sent me an e-mail Wednesday morning reporting that a Philadelphia news crew had been out to the house and that she’s getting request calls and e-mails from all over the county and the country, for that matter.
"It has been very crazy around here and I’m kind of in shock that a simple picture of a little girl that loves her daddy has made national news," Abby wrote.
Being a mother of two, pregnant with what Abby calls a deployment baby, and with a husband in Iraq with the U.S. Army Reserve, 733rd Transportation Company of Reading, is no picnic.
"There are some things that just have to be done and I do them without ever thinking it is a big deal," Abby said. "It’s astonishing to me that it has taken the kindness of strangers to make me see the significance, importance and difficulty of doing what I am doing."
You’ve heard the stereotypes.
What say you?
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