Photo by the author, Deeann D. Mathews
“Well, the Lord's timing is good, Frank and Francesca: we found each other in time for me to help you with old, boring technology like e-mail, where you actually have to scroll down and make sure and then check the sent box to be sure.”
Capt. Ludlow was always in a state of wonder, talking with his twins.his living 19-year-old children who survived Alexandra Ludlow's last bitter act, to be raised by Sgt. Joe Wainwright his Army colleague and friend, just up the hill in the Blue Ridge of Virginia where the captain's grandmother was from – in fact, Sgt. Wainwright was a not-all-that-distant cousin to the captain. All that time, Joe ad Melba Wainwright had raised his twins to a vibrant young adulthood, and they had found him in cold-calling local business for their content management and online marketing company. He had offered to mentor them in business, not understanding entirely why he had been moved to want to help them until he and Sgt. Wainwright had talked, and the truth was discovered at last.
“The thing is, don't forget the attachment in these long string emails. Sometimes things fall out in the reply strings. Sometimes you will need to manually reattach items.”
“Wow, Papa Robert, the old technology is just crazy,” Francesca said. “I can't imagine doing all this and then dealing with a landline and then having to tie that up with a modem.”
Capt. Ludlow smiled. His twins were 19, and his oldest granddaughter by Frank and Francesca's elder two siblings was just 11 … he was going to be having these kinds of conversations for a long time.
But meanwhile, seven-year-old Amanda Ludlow was doing quality eavesdropping, and was about to act on what she heard as best she knew how, and came running into the scene to grab her grandfather because –.
“Technology doesn't love us, so you're right, Papa – we gotta remember the attachment!”
Frank and Francesca loved their little nieces and nephews adopted as siblings to them, and the sight of their little niece having their immense white-haired biological father in a bear hug approaching a chokehold instantly had them rolling laughing.
“Amanda, welcome to our e-mail class,” Capt. Ludlow said gently. “Let's get you attached to what's really going on.”
So Amanda learned about best e-mail practices that the captain had learned as an Army officer, adapted for business, too.
“I don't know when I'm ever going to use this, but I really had fun learning it with all of you!” she said at the end.
“It's about the attachment,” Francesca said gently, and watched Amanda glow up.
“Yeah, because tech doesn't know any better, but we do!” she said.
“Exactly,” Capt. Ludlow said as he fought back tears in seeing his two generations having come together in spite of everything that had happened. “We use the tech as a tool to maintain the attachments.”
“This is a great lesson and I'll definitely be here for the next one!” Amanda said. “I wanna learn how to do the computer stuff too, because this way, there will never have to be another Glittapocalyse!”
“What?” Frank said.
“Well, it was kinda a big accident with me and Edwina, but, Papa ended up looking like a disco ball covered with pink and purple glitter, and I don't think those colors were working for him, Uncle Frank,” Amanda said.
“Buy your children high-quality glitter when the time comes,” Capt. Ludlow said to Frank and Francesca, “because that way, when they fill balloons with it and then let them loose trying to show you, you won't be able to get it in your lungs, and you will only need to shower three times to get it all –.”
And Frank and Francesca were gone laughing again.
In the background, Sgt. Joe Wainwright was smiling, remembering the way his old Army commander with that deep voice so many feared kept his troops in good spirits with that voice – his sense of humor, constant encouragement, and fine singing when the occasion permitted were still in evidence, though in the gentle strength of a mature father and grandfather. Now, Frank and Francesca, having been fathered well by the sergeant, at last got to experience their biological father loving them well too, and know that the separation had only been there because their biological father did not know they had survived. It turned out that the common mountain community view on the need to care for all children had made it so their family cultures had mirrored each other. The love between the Wainwrights and Ludlows was growing, and it was a beautiful thing to be part of.
“We're not forgetting the attachment,” Mrs. Melba Wainwright said to her husband. “I imagine none of the young people involved today will ever forget!”