12 March 2026, Freewriters Community Daily Writing Prompt Day 3040: still living with that

“You know what else I get from all the videos about our little Ludlow cousins – and, twice removed, about Uncle Robert and Aunt Thalia?” Edwin Ludlow III said to his cousin and business partner, Garlene Ludlow.

“What?” said the co-proprietor of Ludlow Modern Architecture.

“All of them – well, not Aunt Thalia, who is the grace personality all of the born Ludlows are enjoying – but the born Ludlows are all savvy survivors,” Edwin III said. “They've been through so much death and abandonment, starting with Uncle Robert, and you can see they are all still living with that, but they have snatched each other and decided to live and boy, are they living!”

“Well, that also comes from Grandfather Edwin,” Garlene said. “My dad your uncle was always going on and on about how he thought for sure that Grandfather was going to die after losing Grandmother and that he and your dad and Uncle Elgin were going with him. But no; Grandpa survived, remarried, and lived another twenty-five years!”

“And my dad, your uncle, said that Grandpa lived so well that he almost overran his firstborn,” Edwin III said. “Dad only outlived Grandpa by five years.”

“Yeah, but they weren't that far apart in age,” Garlene said. “Grandpa married young, and so Edwin Jr. was here by the time Grandpa was 18.”

“Yeah, and he and Grandma grew up next door to each other,” Edwin III said. “I guess that is why he was kind of lost for a few years without her because she literally was all he knew – but then, 'He went and got that half-Lee woman!”

“Yeah, Edwin Jr., Elgin, and Edgar Ludlow were not fans,” Garlene said. “Barely old enough to be a stepmother to them, and much less urbane, although Grandma Helen had both class and grace of her own.”

“And then bounced up with a fourth heir, Uncle Henry, and a fifth heir, and that's Uncle Robert!” Edwin III said. “But the thing is, Grandfather was wise enough to leave his older sons' expected inheritance where it was, and work with Grandma Helen to build an inheritance for their children as well.”

“Savvy surviving for the family,” Garlene said. “We kinda see Uncle Robert doing that with his grandchildren and Glendella – he has things set aside for Aunt Thalia, but also is going to exit his business to take care of the seven, and Cousin Tarquin IV is going to take the winery piece back and thus take care of Glendella – enough pots for everyone to eat from to the next generation.”

“I guess that we inherit something else from Grandfather, and probably all the way back to Tancred Ludlow: a belief in abundance,” Edwin III said. “The world is big and there is plenty of opportunity, and there is no need to hurt anyone to get what is ours.”

“Well, we know Tancred was saved for real and believed that,” Garlene said. “Never ever owned a slave although he was rich enough to have them – just didn't believe it was necessary to underpay people.”

“And, quiet as it was kept, Tancred was richer than Tarquin I,” Edwin III said, “which is why we are, too. Most of Tarquin's descendants who stayed rich after the Civil War made marriages with their Tancred-line cousins, or hung on to that winery – and we see how that ended.”

“And, Tancred married twice and provided an entire inheritance for all his sons and daughters – even his daughters, which was practically illegal then,” Garlene said. “He too was a savvy survivor!”

“You know, we could see that Grandfather was still sad about losing Grandmother, to the end of his life … he was still living with that a lot, and we could see whenever he talked about it,” Edwin III said. “But he chose to live and keep moving, and that really has helped us, because we all learned we could choose to keep living. I just wish Robert's first two could have picked this up.”

“I don't know that they didn't,” Garlene said, “but anyone can know a thing and choose not to do it. Elgin Jr. should be here with us, but … .”

“Yeah,” Edwin III said. “Hate to say it, but it's kinda a blessing because Gina is the one who gets it and he wasn't planning to get out of the way.”

“It's sad,” Garlene said, “but this is the thing: we all get our choices, and we all get our consequences.”

Edwin III shook his head.

“Lofton County is definitely getting its consequences for thumbing its nose at our family,” he said.

“Yep – and we'll see if Hurricane Mneme gets it ready to admit their contempt of our parents and grandparents, or whether they will have to wait for Grayson to get grown and keep messing up until then.”