25 April 2026, Freewriters Community Daily Writing Prompt Day 3084: don’t want a suntan

“OK, so, I have a question, Good Grandma, that I couldn't ask Bad Grandma.”

Mrs. Thalia Ludlow looked with great tenderness upon ten-year-old Glendella Ludlow, a little Ludlow cousin that she and her husband, Capt. R.E. Ludlow had recently adopted. Glendella was blossoming into the love and acceptance of her new family, and asking the things that were on her mind as she processed the life she no longer had to endure.

“Ask, Glendella,” Mrs. Ludlow said gently.

“It's not really a question, but … but I notice you don't want a suntan.”

Mrs. Ludlow considered this and stayed quiet so Glendella could fill in the gaps.

“It just confused me so much. Bad Grandma really looked down on people like Mrs. Stepforth and Mrs. Jubilee Trent, Gracie and Velma's grandmothers, but she was always tryig to get a tan to look like them. I coulda told her that wasn't going to work, but, she kept talking down on older Black women in Smallwood, but kept trying to look like them, and she looked good as herself so I didn't get it.”

Mrs. Ludlow considered this, and then opened her arms to Glendella who happily climbed up into her embrace.

“It doesn't matter what race anyone is; we are all human, and if we are unhappy with our situation, we can both hate someone else while wanting what they have that we feel we don't. I don't feel the need to get sunburned and have skin cancer to look like my neighboring grandmas because I'm happy with how God made me, and I don't hate my neighboring grandmas or look down on them because they are Black. God made them too, and they are beautiful how He made them just like I am beautiful how He made me. Your namesake, Mrs. Glendella Ludlow, just doesn't know what we know.”

Glendella Ludlow the Younger considered this.

“That's actually really sad. I'd go tell her, but she tried to hurt me the last time I saw her.”

“Your grandmother is 68 years old, 12 years older than me,” Mrs. Ludlow said. “At our big ages, what we didn't bother to find out of the truth is our responsibility, and only God can fix that. Take off that burden, Glendella, and let God carry it, because when folks won't listen to Him, they surely will not hear us.”

“I kinda notice that Andrew and Eleanor, but especially Andrew, is a little like me,” Glendella said. “We worry about adults, a lot.”

“And I tell Andrew the same things. Both of you, and Eleanor also in a different way, have big brains and hearts for your ages. Eleanor, however, is a bit less worried because she just focuses on what she can do: being the best big sister for eight siblings.”

“Eleanor is the best, ever, period,” Glendella said.

“Eleanor is the best Ludlow big sister ever,” Mrs. Ludlow said, “because she pours into who she can love and help, not who she can't. But it just doesn't have to be Eleanor who gets good at doing this. You can be the best second-biggest sister ever, too.”

“Yeah, I think I'll go for that, because Edwina and Amanda need a lot to look up to, and although Andrew is right here with Eleanor and me, George and Robert need help – we love them but it is what it is, and then Grayson is just always off doing his own thing in his own world but enjoys a nice visit to our world from time to time.”

Mrs. Ludlow chuckled.

“Yeah, Grayson is on his own journey, but I have to tell him what I tell you: he can't rebuild Lofton County right now but he can make the best blueprints with his white crayons and blue construction paper that he can. He, Andrew, Eleanor, and you are the high-responsibility Ludlow set, while George, Edwina, Amanda, and Robert are just learning life as they experience it, more like everyday children.”

“Yeah, but Rob is trying to get over here,” Glendella said. “He wants to get into high responsibility, but it's hard when you're five and the world is so distracting.”

“Yep,” Mrs. Ludlow said with another chuckle. “Rob will eventually get across to y'all, though – I see that in him as well. But here is the beauty of Robert Edward Ludlow III; just like Eleanor on the other end: temperamentally, there is balance. Rob is going to get Rob's life, and if you don't get yours after he has spent a minute not even breathing he is talking so fast and so much and so loudly, telling you what you need to know and a bunch of other stuff you might need later, oh well.”

Glendella laughed.

“Yeah, that's Rob all right, she said.

“Yes, it is,” Mrs. Ludlow said. “When Rob is done, he is going to bounce on – and as you live here and listen to the business conversations Big Robert aka Upgrade Papa has with people, you're going to notice he doesn't tell anyone anything more than twice, and only twice if the person matters. You understand and move appropriately or you deal with the consequences – balance, because Upgrade Papa is going to let or make happen to you whatever you choose.”

“Yeah,” Glendella said. “That's why I knew I would be safe here. Upgrade Papa is not going to worry about you one minute after you cross into those consequences, and you definitely are not going to be bothering him afterward or anybody else he protects – so yeah, that's why I'm here.”

“And if you think about Eleanor's focus, and Rob always keeping it moving, you see they echo him in that way,” Mrs. Ludlow said. “You can learn, too – it's not just temperamental. You can learn like Andrew is learning.”

“Thanks, Good Grandma,” Glendella said. “It's all starting to make sense now, and I am not confused.”