I just finished reading through the blog, and really enjoyed learning many things about Col. Newton that I had never known...what a great idea to have this site as a place for people to share their memories about Col Newton!
Most of my memories of Col. Newton come from when I was a four-year-old boy, which was my age when his family and mine lived in Biloxi, Mississippi. But I can clearly remember going on a fishing boat out into the Gulf of Mexico, when my brother, Charlie, was about 2 years old. Suddenly, all four parents, (Col and Mrs Newton; and my parents, Col. and Mrs. Beam), hooked four fish from a school of Lemon Fish, all at the same time! As was so typical of their enthusiasm and zest for life, all four were screaming with delight and excitement, and just loving the moment! The only problem was, that as 2- and 4-year old kids, my brother and I had no idea what was going on, but were convinced something was terribly wrong with our parents! After all four fish were successfully reeled in, they noticed us standing there in the middle of the boat, crying our eyes out!! (We were quickly assured that everything was OK!) But as I've remembered that event in recent years, it just gave me that much more appreciation for the four of them, to have witnessed what fun-loving, happy, adventurous people they were. Their friendship and memories of their times together have lasted all their lives.
Another gauge of Col. and Mrs. Newton's character, is by observing their kids. Their son, Rick (Carter Jr.) has been a life-long friend of mine, but one of the earliest memories I have of him was when Rick (about 10 years old at the time), found my brother and me digging a hole in the garden in our front yard. He asked us what we were doing, and we told him we were digging for buried treasure. He left for a few minutes, then came back to our Big Dig. He distracted us somehow, (not too hard to do to a 2- and 4-year-old!), and while we were looking away, he dropped a bunch of nickels, dimes, and quarters into the hole, and covered them with a little dirt. When we resumed our digging, we soon found our buried treasure!!
The Newtons are a wonderful family, who have touched everyone they've known with their kindness, generosity, and joy for life. May they be comforted by all the wonderful memories, and by the knowledge that they will all be reunited in the eternal life that is their destiny
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