“It could have been way worse, though – thank God Cousin Harry was feeling more angelic than deathly as the Angel of Death today!”
“But see, this is why you just don't roll up on people's houses because you don't know what they do with soap, even if it is organic and non-toxic.”
Ten-year-old Andrew Ludlow, little cousin to Col. H.F. Lee, was talking to friend next door eleven-year-old Velma Trent about what they had heard, but not seen – the Lees and the Trents had gathered the little ones in. They knew what had happened because they had heard Col. Lee say it: a former veteran colleague had come cussing up a storm and the retired colonel had told that man he would wash his mouth out with soap for doing all that in the hearing of all those children … and then, somehow, actually did it!
“I'm glad we didn't see all that,” Velma said, “because I don't think we needed to see all the extra things that can be done with soap.”
“What I'm trying to understand is how that got from zero to a hundred to a million to soap suds just that fast,” Andrew said. “Cousin Harry was calmly explaining what is going on with whatever case is going on that the lieutenant was involved in, and then the man started yelling and then Cousin Harry said just a few words and then boom – soap suds. I don't get it.”
“There's this word that Mom and I talk about when we paint,” Velma said. “It's called nuance, and it kind of relates to shades of colors … like, there's red, but inside red, there's scarlet and brick and cayenne and rust and vermilion and burgundy and rose … and then if you add white, there are all the pinks, too, that are paler reds … so it's not just red. There's nuance.”
“Oh, it's like Black/Grayscale printing,” Andrew said. “They make all these different gray shades out of just black and white.”
“Or like sepia tones in photography or painting – basically, it's a lot of brown,” Velma said. “But some people's brains don't do all that – there's just red – so there's no nuance. They don't make good painters, and really, if people think that way about life, they struggle.”
Andrew considered this.
“Papa is one of those people who says openly that most things are black and white, cut and dry,” he said, “but we gotta consider he's a 33-year military veteran, and 58 years old, and went into therapy to get better.”
“Not only that,” Velma said. “Your grandfather has relaxed a whole lot about all the color in the world … my dad is the Ludlow Bubbly vice president, Sgt. Tito Gonzalez is the head of the company's distributor, and the Miyamotos are getting the Ludlow Bubbly into Hawaii and Japan. Capt. Ludlow understands the nuance of humanity and that it is necessary now.”
“I hadn't thought about it that way, but, yeah, he considers y'all extended family now, although you know Papa doesn't say all that,” Andrew said.
“Oh, we know; we feel it now,” Velma said. “Robert Edward Ludlow Sr. is good people like his grandchildren are.”
“Thanks, Velma!” said Robert Edward Ludlow Sr.'s eldest grandson.
“The other thing is, though, your grandfather thinks a lot,” Velma said. “He actually gets up in the morning before your baby brother Rob [Robert Edward Ludlow III, the captain's five-year-old baby grandson] and spends time reading, thinking, and understanding stuff. He seems to see nuance in situations.”
“Yeah, Papa does really look into things, and he is stricter than Cousin Harry but still really fair when things happen with us grandkids,” Andrew said. “He does pick up on the nuances, because he wants to understand why things happened instead of just punishing because of what happened.”
“So, I think that's what didn't happen in the conversation between the lieutenant and your Cousin Harry,” Velma said. “From all I could hear, Col. Lee was explaining what was going on, but there were details and nuances and stuff, and the lieutenant missed all that.”
“Which is why it went from zero to a hundred to a million to soap suds, just that quick,” Andrew said. “No nuance – no real understanding.”
“Some people's minds just miss a lot, and we know stuff happens to veterans,” Velma said. “I hope that man gets the help he needs.”
“Oh, he will, because that's Cousin Harry,” Andrew said. “Nobody spent more time with Grayson and Edwina after he grounded them than he did, helping them understand. If Cousin Harry taught painting, he would be the one sitting there talking about, 'If you're going to paint the town red, at least get your shades right so you're not boring folks.' ”
“Or,” Velma said, “if you're going to get your mouth washed out with soap, make sure you go to somebody's house who uses organic, non-toxic, and homemade and cares enough about you to share.”
“Right,” Andrew said. “Details and nuances.”
“Basically,” Velma said.