Image by Clker-Free-Vector-Images from Pixabay
“No. Just no. I'm not going for it!”
Five-year-old Lil' Robert Ludlow was taking a stand on an issue of justice.
“I need big people with little souls to know that little people with real tall souls are here and we expect to be treated right!”
Lil' Robert had misunderstood a conversation between eleven-year-old Velma Trent and her sixteen-year-old cousin Tom Stepforth, because Velma had asked “But is the glass half empty or half full?” and Tom had said, “I feel like in Lofton County, for young people, the glass is always going to be half empty.”
Lil' Robert misunderstood the analogy, but still made the Lofton County Free Voice anyway at least in reference because he was still right.
“Fill the cup all the way up – how are we supposed to get big and stuff with half empty glasses? These grown folks are supposed to take care of us, so, no, we're not going for it – fill the cup up!”
“Yeah!” nine-year-old George Ludlow said as he came over. “Fill the darn cup up!”
“Why are you kid cussing?” Velma said.
“Oops – OK, fine – fill the whole cup up! I've already lived through not getting enough to eat, so no, we're not doing this! We're not putting other kids through this! Fill the cups up for the kids! What in the deck of cards is going on out here that we have to explain it! Robert is only five! Why he gotta live afraid of not getting enough?”
“But, see, we gotta start early, because, see, these big folks with little souls don't get it!” Lil' Robert said, “but they're gonna! By the Ludlowness vested in both of us –.”
George and Lil' Robert both took a deep breath, and then showed they were the grandsons of basso profundo Robert Edward Ludlow Sr., whose voice could be heard a mile under the right conditions:
“Fill the cup up for the kids!”
That became a political rallying point in the 2020 election, because a local politician heard it and made it part of his platform.
“By virtue of the Ludlowness vested in them!” the Stepforth grandparents next door would eventually say to grandfather Robert Edward Ludlow Sr., who put his head in his hand for a moment, but then decided to go with it.
“Well, my grandsons have their big voices for a reason – let them use them for the right!” he said, and let me get some more Ludlow Bubbly for our improvised soda fountain so I can fill it to the brim, because I have to uphold the standard of the Ludlowness I vested in them.”
“You sho' do!” Mrs. Velma Stepforth said as her husband, Thomas Stepforth Sr., laughed. “Grandsons keep you on your toes!”
