The Way Things Were… Before the Collapse

A woman in 2100 remembers her Grandmother’s memories of the time before everything changed

Photo by Rod Long on Unsplash

One of my fondest, clearest memories of my grandmother is from a warm, winter’s day where we had gathered to celebrate her birthday. I remember playing among the trees and the crisp, crushed leaves with my friends and neighbours, while the adults sat around the table laughing, talking and singing, as they usually did.

My grandmother was always smiling and laughing, the kindness radiating through her eyes. She seemed happiest when she was surrounded by people, leading them in song, listening to their woes, guiding a prayer or meditation — in particular, she was one of the ones who would lead the ceremonies to mark the changing of the times, and to thank the earth for what it gave us. But she also enjoyed long periods of solitude, which she told me were necessary for her spirit. There was always a sadness inside her, deep behind that smile, and I understood as I got older than it was the shadow of grief that she always carried with her — grief for the people and the things that she had lost at that time — the time of the Great Turning.

I was around eight when I first heard about that time. For me, as a child, I had never imagined that things had been different from the ways in…