“So, I was wondering – is this a partnership we are doing or something else?”
Nine-year-old Milton Trent and nine-year-old George Ludlow were listening to a conversation Milton's grandfather was having with Milton's big brother, 21-year-old Melvin, about growing a business and bringing in other people, and the ideas about partnership had caught their imagination.
“Well, I guess so,” George said. “You are my best friend, and we do so much together – have adventures together, find out new things together, get grounded together, voluntarily co-ground together and read so we can find stuff to do that usually won't get us grounded, play partners in games – so, yeah.”
“I thought so too because you do stuff with a partner that's cooler because you are enjoying it together,” Milton said. “I guess in business you share the work and the money, like my dad and your granddad in the Ludlow Bubbly.”
“Oh, well, we're all sort of partners in that, because all the way down to Rob being the company bigmouth and sampling the product, every Ludlow has a part,” George said, “and your family does all these things like getting the video promos together and designing the labels and more quality control sampling, and when Papa is overwhelmed because having eight grandkids is hard, your dad just picks up the load as vice president.”
“Partners I guess are people that have a part in stuff,” Milton said, “so yeah, I guess we are all partners in this. But when we sell the company, I'm going to miss that.”
“We'll always be partners in the memories, though,” George said, “and besides that, more time to see what is under the rocks after it rains, and play Uno in the shade.”
“Yeah!” Milton said. “Gotta keep our priorities straight out here!”
George's grandfather, Capt. R.E. Ludlow, was quietly supervising while reviewing yet another revised set of paperwork for the sale of the Ludlow Bubbly's two divisions, and smiled gently at this conversation.
“Quiet as I will keep it,” Capt. Ludlow said to his wife Thalia, “I will miss the days of making soda and therefore teaching them to work for their living by shared activity and example, too.”
“It was hard, but it was rewarding,” Mrs. Ludlow said, “but you know, you can always start another small-scale family business, and you know who has tons of good ideas?”
“Which of these little ones?” Capt. Ludlow said with a smile.
“Amanda,” Mrs. Ludlow said. “This child wakes up in the morning looking for how the world can be made better for other people, and there are some great business ideas in there that could be kept at scale.”
Capt. Ludlow laughed.
“So, I'm taking on Amanda as my next business partner, eh?”
“You could not find a better one, other than of course your present partner Sgt. Trent!”
“I can't even argue with that, Thalia. We already know she is going to be a future Lofton Trust trustee; she did so well at Bring Your Children to Work Day going with Cousin Harry to the virtual meeting.”
“And loved every minute of it, because all the Trust does is figure out how to spend its money making life in Lofton County better for the people. That's that seven-year-old's idea of heaven!”
“Well, she needs to start building her resume somewhere – I'll talk to her – next week, though.”
Mrs. Ludlow cracked up at the grandfather's imitation of his youngest grandson's favorite catch phrase, and then hit the grandfather with a pillow playfully.
“No, really!” Capt. Ludlow said. “We need to get past this hurricane figuring out if it is going to keep stalling out off the coast and come in here or not and get the sale done, so it will be late next week at the earliest.”
“That was what was so cute about it,” Mrs. Ludlow said. “Lil' Robert is rubbing off on you instead of the other way – you didn't even realize what you had done!”
“I guess so – and to think I'm selling a company to be rubbed off on more by these kids and get hit with pillows by my own wife,” Capt. Ludlow said. “Woe is me!”
“Your life is so hard!” Mrs. Ludlow said as she cracked up again.
Some hours later, as they were settling into bed, Capt. Ludlow considered how George had figured out that friendship was a partnership … add with that true love, and a marriage. Thalia Ludlow was the captain's partner in life, without whom nothing that had come about in Ludlow Family 2.0 could have come to be.
Mrs. Ludlow did not know what her husband was thinking, but guessed at it later when he, half-asleep, recalled one of their dating things – famous love songs, two octaves down – he would drag a high tenor song into basso profondo in a hot second and have her cracking up – but the thing was, as she had said to her sister, “Robert is hilarious, but he also is a bass-voiced swooner crooner – I think he is going the humorous route because he is a little nervous about us, but more and more he is singing for real, and that man can sing and I do believe he loves me.”
That evening, half-asleep, Capt. Ludlow had repeated the pattern … absolutely cracked his wife up, but all eight of the little Ludlows soon heard their bass-voiced swooner crooner grandfather showing his stuff for their grandmother.
“It's so nice to be raised by grandparents who actually love each other,” ten-year-old Glendella said to eleven-year-old Eleanor.
“Yep,” Eleanor said. “Makes it a lot easier, that's for sure.”