Image by Leonhard Niederwimmer from Pixabay
“OK – but then – no, forget it, like Mrs. Stepforth says next door, I'm trying to can, but I cannot – Cousin Harry!”
“Like getting bruised up by these kids once in a day wasn't enough,” Mrs. Velma Stepforth said from the Trent porch.
“All eleven of them just tackled that man for joy because he and his wife are moving down here – but what is being young for?” Mr. Stepforth said as Col. H.F. Lee appeared in response to the call from his ten-year-old cousin Andrew Ludlow, with eleven-year-old Eleanor Ludlow going with him.
“So, we know that we all come out of Sir Henry Lea all the way back at the time of the Crusades – but I thought we got over the English period in our history around 1776,” Andrew said.
“Yeah, because our ancestor the other Colonel Henry Lee was done with all that,” Eleanor said.
“So then why are people in Big Loft trying to name something the new town centre instead of spelling it in good solid American English?” Andrew said.
“What is going on?” Eleanor said. “As Old Virginian stock, we are supposed to know better than this!”
“Well, I think we do,” Col. Lee said gently, “but Big Loft is not that old as a city – not that old Major Lofton would have done any such foolishness, but he has only been gone since 1899, and his second wife since 1904, so the people that built the city of Big Loft after then may not have been thinking back to the late 1000s and also 1776.”
“I guess not!” Eleanor said.
“But then, who is?” Andrew said.
“There's also something else going on,” Col. Lee said. “It is 2020 and a highly political moment, and sometimes people who are not certain about the future look for comfort in what they think of as a strong past. England was very strong for a long time, and most people here who are considered 'white' are of English descent.”
“Yeah, but, mixing the R and the E up in 'center' isn't going to bring anything back, or going to bring the power of the past here,” Andrew said.
“That's not how any of this works,” Eleanor said. “This just looks like the people running Big Loft want to be something that they're not.”
“Again, Andrew and Eleanor, if you are not sure of who you are, you might think it would be good to try to be someone else.”
“See, as Ludlows, this would never work – we can't hide, and even if we could, our little sister is Edwina and she would give us away,” Andrew said.
“High-class problems,” Col. Lee said, “to be ten and eleven, and understand that you have to be who you are, whoever you find out that may be.”
Andrew and Eleanor were silent for a long moment.
“I don't think our parents ever really figured it out, and we see Papa struggling with the fact that he was away in service and couldn't help,” Eleanor said.
“So then they got with people that didn't know,” Andrew said, “and they got us here, so, they'll always be our parents, but they also gave up too soon, and on us, too.”
Col. Lee considered this.
“So it bothers y'all to see people playing pretend and not figuring out who and what they really are, because you know that doesn't end well.”
“Yeah,” Andrew and Eleanor said.
“That's called a trigger,” Col. Lee said, “something that brings back the memories and reactions to something that deeply hurt us.”
“Oh, this is what they mean when they say folks get triggered,” Eleanor said.
“That makes so much sense,” Andrew said.
“So, then, what we also learn to do is figure out, when it comes to news, is breathe deeply and think about whether the thing triggering us is really going to affect our lives, or whether we can just let people be people and let it go.”
“Them knowing how to spell in American really isn't our problem,” Eleanor said.
“Them knowing how and choosing not to is also not our problem,” Andrew said.
“So then, now with getting understanding, we can safely let it go,” Col. Lee said, and opened his arms to his cousins.
“The snugglecouragement helps, like Amanda says,” Eleanor said.
“It does,” Andrew said.
“Well, we all need to courage to face our triggers and learn how to deal with them, so, it can't hurt,” the colonel said with a smile.
“I don't know what this is about, but I'm here with more snugglecouragement!” seven-year-old Amanda said, her arms open wide and her legs going at full speed.
“Well, there's another muscle strain for the mighty Lee,” Mr. Stepforth said.
“Yeah, but you can tell how much he loves his little cousins, and I don't think it bothers him – he's going to be a wonderful father,” Mrs. Stepforth said.