“So, Papa, because I am your oldest grandchild and now oldest daughter by adoption, there are some things I need to know: why did you set up the sale of the two parts of the Ludlow Bubbly to give so much money to the eight of us and take just the bare minimum for yourself?”
Capt. R.E. Ludlow smiled at his eleven-year-old but quite intellectually precocious granddaughter, Eleanor, and took a moment to compose himself because of the intense love he had for her, the child for whom he began to become the grandfather who could take in the six others, plus a little cousin in need.
“First off, you will live much longer and need much more money, my dear,” he said. “As for me, I have my Army pension, and I have it on good authority that when the two promotions I was denied unjustly come through, my pension will not only go up, but retroactively be leveled out, so the United States will provide me the windfall I have earned. But even without that, darling, I am content with what I have, and my joy is to make your way easier than mine has been. I shored up my retirement account a bit, and Grandma also I expect to outlive me so I banked her up as well, but I do not need any more. There's also some other jobs coming into view for me, so, I'm fine, Eleanor?”
“Yeah, but Papa, you're not that old. I mean, you have white hair, but what are you, like, forty?” Eleanor said.
“I wish!” he said with a laugh, “but then again, no. I was miserable at forty, and it was all my fault. But think again – you made me a card for my last birthday.”
Eleanor considered, remembered, frowned, and then said, “But you're still not that old, Papa – you're not even 60 yet. What if you live to 100 or something – that's 42 years away.”
“I take it that if I do what the Lord has for me to do now, He will take care of my later,” Capt. Ludlow said, and pulled his phone out. “Let's have a look at Proverbs 13:22, shall we?”
Eleanor looked, and read aloud: “The righteous man leaves an inheritance to his children's children, and the wealth of the sinner is laid up for the just.”
“So, let's take the back half first: if you are wicked, and wealthy, there is no guarantee that you will be able to pass that on the way you want, because eventually the Lord is going to take all that back and redirect it to those of His choice, not yours,” Capt. Ludlow said. “The Ludlows who were slave owners would be so mad to know that their winery is part of making sure not only you but our friends the Trents, Gonzalezes, Duboises and Miyamotos have a bigger inheritance for their children, but it wasn't up to them. God already said what He was going to do.”
“That's deep, Papa,” Eleanor said. “Whole lotta wicked billionaires don't have a clue what is going to happen, then.”
“Well, they can get saved if they will humble themselves and answer God's call,” Capt. Ludlow said. “Selene Slocum-Lofton, Lofton County's only female billionaire, did at the age of 84, so, it's not too late.”
“She is so nice, too,” Eleanor said. “I mean, we can see how Cousin Harry is running everything you are not because of how she is the same way, but, she's a good grandma.”
“Christ does that even for old folks – we can get it together eventually, because He puts us together how He wants us,” Capt. Ludlow said. “But that brings me back to the first part of the verse: who is my firstborn child's firstborn child?”
It took Eleanor a couple of seconds before it dawned on her that she was who her grandfather was speaking of, and then she stood wide-eyed as he solemnly read out the first part of the verse again: “A righteous man leaves an inheritance to his children's children.”
“Oh,” she said.
“Now you know, my firstborn's firstborn,” he said, and kissed her on her forehead. “That's why I am setting all eight of you up for life – in Christ, I am called to be righteous, so, you see it.”
“But this is what is so weird,” Eleanor said. “Most people between 40-60 are not on this!”
“Well, you get the first part of the verse, or you get the last,” he said. “You have 29 years to make your own decision about this, Eleanor.”
“Oh, snap – but no, this is easy – I'mma make sure your children's children's children's children are good, Papa – I don't want the Lord just spreading everything I will work to build all over the place because I didn't do right!” Eleanor said.
“And, as you get older, and you see how inheritances get all messed up and how legacies are lost, just know: everyone with children is getting the first half of the verse, or the last half,” Capt. Ludlow said.
“I gotta go talk to Andrew and Glendella, and we gotta get this through the heads of the younger ones,” Eleanor said, and ran off with her grandfather's phone. He just laughed.
“And that, my dear – letting you know truth I did not have until much later – is the best thing I can leave you, my firstborn's firstborn,” he said, and then went to his bedroom for a little while as the impact of what he had just said hit him and he broke down and wept, realizing the real inheritance was happening every day, as his grandchildren watched his life.
