7 January 2025, @mariannewest's Freewrite Writing Prompt Day 2610: injection of joy

Image by WOKANDAPIX from Pixabay

Capt. R.E. and Mrs. Thalia Ludlow knew all their grandchildren well … although six-year-old Grayson Ludlow was self-contained and was never going to do anything to get extra attention, and even though he could always entertain himself with anything he could do with his hands, there was a surefire way to put an injection of joy and love into his life.

“And yes, they really do love that boy, because getting down on the floor by the Lego pile at our ages is no joke,” Mr. Thomas Stepforth mused to his wife, Mrs. Velma Stepforth. “But it is one of those priceless things to do upon their coming home.”

“I'm glad you're going to help the captain and Vincent exit the day-to-day on the Ludlow bubbly,” Mrs. Stepforth said. “The Ludlows and Vincent and Melissa do not have time to be running a multi-million dollar business when their better work is before them.”

“Yeah, I learned that the hard way and I'd like to keep willing people from doing that,” he said, and Mrs. Stepforth wrapped her arm around him.

“You're blessed,” she said. “Supposedly old men can't learn, and old dogs can't learn new tricks, but Gracie's dog Goody is learning new tricks every day, and you did figure all of it out in time.”

“I'm blessed also to be forgiven,” he said, and drew her into his embrace. “Thank you for giving me all that time, Velma. I never could have been with anyone else, and never wanted to be … but you didn't have to wait on me.”

“I didn't want to be with anyone else either, though,” she said. “You knew I was never going to shut that phone off.”

“Yeah,” he said, with a smile. “Remember that song we danced to at the prom – that local hit?”

“Yes,” she said. “'My First Love, and My Last.' We were 16 and we knew that was written for us.”

“Fifty years ago,” he said. “Probably nobody even remembers that song but us.”

“Yeah, because it was written for us although the songwriter didn't know – of course we remember!”

Mr. Stepforth had a beautiful baritone voice, and sang as he danced across the porch with his wife.

“My first love, and my last,
My future, and my past,
When all is said and done and life is through,
The only one I ever will have loved is you and only you …
Doo doo doo, doo doo dibbity dibbity doo ...”

“Oh, that's where Gracie gets that doo doo doo doo doo doobeedoobeedoobeedoo stuff from!” Mrs. Maggie Lee said as her husband, Col. H.F. Lee, went and got his guitar and gently accompanied Mr. Stepforth … for he had learned the song and played and sang it for his grandparents' 60th wedding anniversary.

“Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww!” eleven-year-old Velma Trent said to her nine-year-old brother Milton and eight-year-old sister Gracie as their nine-year-old cousins Vertran and sixteen-year-old cousin Tom Stepforth took out their cell phone cameras to video the moment.

“I mean, can you even dig making that kind of decision at age 16?” Tom said. “I mean, I'm 16, and I'm trying to figure out if I'm going to college.”

“Well, I'm engaged to Louisa, so, she and I plan to be doing this by age 59,” Vertran said as he made his video camera ready. “Folks figure out stuff at different rates, so, it's OK, Tom.”

Meanwhile, in the Ludlow house, six-year-old Grayson Ludlow sat between the first two great loves of his life, his grandparents and adoptive parents, as they all snuggled and built with Legos, and also knew that song was about them, too, in a generational type of way.