I received a call from a man who identified himself as Richard. He and his two brothers were on a business trip. They had been gone several days. He got my name from a business associate who lives in our region. His brothers encouraged him to call a therapist. Seems he laid out some news that left the two brothers shaken. We made an early morning appointment for the next day. Love those early bird specials.

Promptly at 7 a.m. three men walked through the doors. We shook hands, made a quick introduction and settled into my office. At first glance something struck me funny. My face displayed a puzzled look. Richard, sitting between his two brothers, introduced the three. “Hi. I’m Richard; this is my brother Thomas on my left and my brother Harold on my right.” We shook hands. I quickly apologized for my puzzled look. Richard continued, “So, Marshall, you need not apologize. Almost all folks give us a similar expression. You see, we’re triplets. I mean, we’re not identical. We do look alike at first glance, though.” So, gentlemen, I asked, what brings you here? What’s going on?

Thomas chimed in. “We were out to dinner early last night. We had a few cocktails and Richard started to laugh, then tear up. He started jibber-jabbing. We could hardly make out what he was saying.” Harold then spoke. “Yeah, what Thomas said. Then he finally let ‘er rip. Tell the man what you told us.” Richard looked stiff, rigid, controlled. Let’s give him some space to gather himself. Something important to say sometimes takes patience.

Richard looked up and said, “Marshall, I told my brothers that I met someone online. I might be meeting this person. We have lots in common. The person lives in a large city. We live in rural Ohio.” Will you give me some biographical information about yourselves?

Harold jumped in. “I’ll explain to the man. You see, Marshall, we’re here on business, sort of on a whim. Our family owns a large lumber mill in Ohio. We work for our parents. Our mom and dad started the business. Mom is a certified building contractor and dad is an accountant. Our older brother, Peter, is the foreman. We also have a younger sister, Joy, who is a certified plumber and electrician. So, as you can tell, we’re a hands-on working family. The family business runs smoothly. We all work there. We all get along well.”

“I’m married and so is Thomas. We married twin sisters. Don’t you love it?!” Antoinette is my wife. Annette is Thomas’ wife. We each have our own house. Richard, he lives with Peter, who is a bachelor. Joy lives in a cottage connected to the folks’ home. We live in rural America, Marshall. Excitement is hunting and fishing. We three have been inseparable since birth. We’re 25 years old. Thomas and I had a double wedding last year. Richard was our collective best man. Kind of funny when I hear myself talk about it.”

What brings you three to this part of the world, I asked. Thomas answered, “Well, you see, we got paid a visit at the mill by two Amish men. They were visiting family in our area. They took a field trip to see our operation. We got along famously. They insisted for us to visit their homestead and to see their lumber operation. It gave us three a reason to get out of Dodge, if you catch my drift. So we did so; gave ourselves seven days. Then, Richard laid out his news.”

With our time growing short, they had a business appointment to get to. We agreed to meet the same time the next day.

Let there be peace on earth and let it begin with me.

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