Capt. R.E. Ludlow made a similar note to himself, weekly: “Grayson is quiet, so he can be easily overlooked, and rarely needs anything, so he can be more easily overlooked, but he is my father's heir, which means he needs a special kind of attention.”
The captain was the youngest and last surviving son of Edwin Ludlow, whose genius in engineering and architecture had brought Lofton County into the 20th century. Grayson, Edwin's second-youngest great-grandson, looked like the person who might just bring it into the 21st century, for he spent enough time in the Lego pile and in clay and making blueprints with white crayons on blue construction paper to show he was getting ready.
But Grayson Ludlow, six years old, realized before most adults in Lofton County that the upgrades were overdue. He had known since the third water main break that summer that Lofton County was in big trouble because “they should just let me fix it, because I care about my work and whatever they are using now isn't as good as Legos anyway.”
It was getting harder and harder to argue with Grayson about that last point. People had come into office that hated Edwin Ludlow and Edwin Ludlow Jr. for all that they did and received acclaim fore up to 1990 and just threw out their methods and their remaining associates … and were doing a worse job with infrastructure than Grayson was doing with Legos.
And, he knew it, and couldn't do a thing about it.
So, one frustrated afternoon, he just broke down and cried, and his grandfather, who had been observing Grayson's mood, scooped him up to comfort and talk to him.
“Papa, they gotta let me get out there and start fixing this stuff – it's not safe for me and it's not safe for you the way they are doing things!” he said. “And don't tell me I gotta finish first grade before I can do anything – no! I'm six years old – so what? I can do better than the people that don't care!”
Capt. Ludlow let Grayson cry this all the way out, because the child was dead serious and had no idea how both hilarious and infuriating it would be to far too many to have this little blond, gray-eyed boy coming to their construction sites and telling them what they were doing wrong. He knew they shouldn't put a 90-foot support where a 200-foot support was needed. He knew they couldn't use cotton balls and asbestos as insulation. Grayson worked hard to understand what he could, and it frustrated him that other people who were supposed to be grown and know better didn't.
When Grayson had a little nap and woke up calm again, his grandfather addressed his frustration.
“It's not so much that you have to finish first grade, but there are licenses you have to get,” he said. “Gotta pass a few tests and have some experience in the field."
“Well, the people who have all that aren't getting it right!”
“Yes, but there's no point in doing anything without doing it right.”
Grayson considered this.
“You're right,” he said, “because we gotta lead in making things better. So, I'm gonna need some mock tests for the licensing so I can get ready.”
“OK; we can do that from the computer,” Capt. Ludlow said. “You also should start reading your great-grandfather's guides on civil engineering.”
“Definitely gotta read all of those,” Grayson said.
The captain got the volume nearest to him and his grandson, and Grayson sized up the thick guide.
“Wait a minute,” he said. “How many of these did Great-Grandpa write?”
“Fifteen, with your great-uncle Edwin Jr. helping him revise them and add six more when new methods arrived in the 1970s.”
“I'll be out of first grade anyway when I finish reading all this – probably even out of high school.”
“It takes time to be a master builder, Grayson. We don't take shortcuts. The people that do are messing things up.”
Grayson considered this, and then gave his grandfather a hug.
“I get it, Papa. This is why I gotta wait. I gotta learn so when I do it, I do it right.”
“And remember, your great-grandfather didn't have Legos,” Capt. Ludlow said, “but we can build the things we are learning about in real time.”
Grayson grinned, and his grandfather felt like a big light had come on … just like when Edwin Ludlow his father, had smiled fully … a rare phenomenon, because the captain's father lived so much in his head. But the captain's mother could get that smile, and so too his baby son, sometimes.
The difference was that the captain understood his father, upon reflection, and therefore had a head start not just understanding Grayson, but helping Grayson to understand himself so that he could have more joy, and feel less alone with his visions.
“I'm looking forward to learning – learning is doing something good, and it's what everybody else is not doing because if they were, they wouldn't be messing up, so yeah! I can do first grade and learn this at the same time.”
“And in the meantime, we can talk to Cousin Harry about what the Lofton Trust is going to do to make things better,” Capt. Ludlow said.
“I need to be at those meetings, though,” Grayson said, “so I can get with the program.”
“We can ask,” Capt. Ludlow said. “Meanwhile, do you smell that?”
“Yep,” Grayson said, “that's lunch!”
“Let's go eat and build up our strong bodies so we can do more,” Capt. Ludlow said, and smiled as Grayson skipped along while holding his hand, all the way to the bathroom to wash up.