Image by Gregor Ritter from Pixabay
Usually Mrs. Maggie Lee handled the majority of the work in the Ludlow garden with the assistance of the Ludlow grandchildren at different times, but on a particular Tuesday, Col. H.F. Lee took over the day's task because Mrs. Lee was making a very special dinner and the day's work required a taller person anyhow … and that left him and the most dedicated Ludlow gardener under the age of 12 to have a good conversation.
“So, I'm really trying hard to focus on good things and be a sweet little girl,” said eight-year-old Edwina Ludlow, “and it's going pretty good so far. None of the people I'm really mad at really live around here, and I'm getting along with George and Grayson too real well, so, it's getting easier, and the more time I spend out here, the better.”
“Some people need more trees and fresh air and plants and dirt, and that's totally fine,” Col. Lee said as he pulled plums off the old plum tree and handed them down to Edwina. “God has all kinds of people to make a world.”
“Did you do this kind of stuff when I was your age?” she said.
“Yep, just somewhat different things because I lived way up in the Blue Ridge, where my grandparents still live – you remember your Big Uncle Horace and Big Aunt Linda.”
“Yep – those are some quality old people, just like Big Cousin Selene, your other grandmother.”
“They are,” Col. Lee said, with a gentle laugh. “I think so, too. And that reminds me: I used to garden with your great-great-grandmother when I was your age.”
“Really – what was she like, and what was her name?”
“Her name was Ainslee MacMurray Lee, second wife of Horatio Lee, the first of the Lees-of-the-Mountain,” he said. “She was from Scotland, still had that big accent, and was a lot like you are becoming: a sweet old woman, but to the end of her 105 or so years of life, it wasn't worth messing with her.”
“Sounds like my kind of old person!” Edwina said.
“She was,” Col. Lee said. “One of my favorite quality old people. I miss her still. You remind me of my great-aunt Hilda, her daughter – Grandee Lee herself.”
“Oh, yeah, that's my great-grandmother,” Edwina said.
“The two of them together in a garden were hilarious, because by the time I was born, Big Mama Ainslee had to be at least 90, but she was still out growing her tomatoes, and different family members took turns making sure she had everything she needed, so my grandfather and Aunt Hilda often worked together, and she loved seeing me and my cousin Horace, so we would often be around.
“Meanwhile, you know how people will bother people sometimes, so someone in the family wanted a favor one day and had a whole long story to tell Big Mama Ainslee to try to get it.”
“I would have broke bad and put an end to all that,” Edwina said. “Bother my great-great-grandmother on some foolishness? I don't think so!”
“Sometimes, Edwina, you gotta remember that people in our family really can take care of themselves, Col. Lee said. “All Big Mama Ainslee said was, 'Och, great-grandee, you need to know there be people who complain about nothing, and then there beGod's people who complain about nothing. Go work out who you are before Hilda comes nigh and throws your carcass clear off the mountain for bringing me this half-done haggis of a mess.”
“My kind of woman – and Big Mama Hilda, too!” Edwina said. “Did the carcass get thrown?”
“No, my cousin figured it out, got his life together, and is still alive,” Col. Lee said. “It pays to learn how to trust God and complain about nothing that way, because there are way too many situations complaining to the wrong people can get you into.”
“Yeah, and I'm one of those people! I don't know what a haggis is yet, but don't bring me a half-done haggis of a mess either, because I'm not going to be under five feet tall forever!”
“But remember, Edwina, there's no one around here who is going to do that, and if there were, you know I've got them. They just don't know it yet, but they will. So, you keep thinking about how to complain about nothing, focusing on the good things, and being a sweet little girl.”
Edwina embraced her big cousin.
“I just gotta find an eight-year-old version of you, and I'm set for life!”
“Give yourself ten years, and both of you can be legal then.”
“Well, Vertran is already engaged to Louisa, and he's three months younger than her, and they're nine!”
“Yes, but, the only other nine-year-old bachelor around is Milton Trent next door.”
“You know what – no. Never mind. He is not my type – that's just George with a permanent tan! I love my brother, and so Milton is his friend and is OK, but I couldn't be married to him. I'd throw his carcass off a mountain and be done! I'm just going to stay over here and be a sweet little girl and leave the romance to other people until some other eligible bachelors my age move down here. Milton? Absolutely not! No!”
“Sounds like a plan to me,” Col. Lee said, and saved falling out laughing for later, in private.
“Grandee Leedlow strikes again!” Mrs. Lee said.