After

I had overslept again. The Sun was high in the sky, it was approaching 9AM. Oh my goodness what was Morgan doing. I ran downstairs to find him eating a bowl of cereal in front of the window. He loved just looking out the window at the bird feeders. “Hi Grandma”. I asked him why he didn’t wake me up. “Well Grandma everything was easy to reach so I did it myself”. As I poured my coffee I looked at my Grandson. He was visiting for a weekend sleepover. I was thinking of how just 10 years ago he had been born during the peak of the Pandemic. We couldn’t hold him, couldn’t hug his mom, we never even saw him until he was 2 weeks old. This perfect little boy. “What do we want to do today” I asked, but he wasn’t listening. He was very focused on the squirrel. It would do almost anything to reach the bird feeder. Grandpa came in then. “Time for us to bring the eggs to town”. We loaded the eggs into the car, Morgan in his seat, and Grandpa at the wheel. We brought the eggs into the shelter. The families were happy to get the eggs. Morgan went to join the other kids. It was time for music class. The displaced people from the city included some of the best musicians in the world, from Broadway. He was learning to play piano. His best friend sang and Jaxson, his cousin, was already sitting at the drums. We said our goodbyes then rounded up some teenagers to help us at the farm. These young people had lost a lot during the pandemic but had left the city to give the country a try. We needed help with the farm. They needed a skill. The housing at the shelter provided a safe place where people could get a fresh start and learn whatever was needed.

“All right I’m cookin lunch. We need fences” and they all went off with Grandpa. A few minutes later Grandpa screamed, then they came running. Jordan was bleeding. The barb wire had sprung back and caught his arm, what a bloody mess. The EMT’s arrived, saw a single person injury and called off the fire and police. Nothing to worry about here. Jordan was crying-no Hospital, please no Emergency Room. He was inconsolable. I had noticed some scars on his arms so asked if he’d been to the ER before. “Yes, before the COVID. They wouldn’t let me leave, they wouldn’t give me anything to help, wouldn’t talk to me. I can’t go back, I can’t, I just can’t. Grandpa and I told him we would stay, we wouldn’t leave him, But he must go it’s a bad injury. The paramedics calmed him down and we followed the ambulance. During the drive my mind drifted. We sometimes forgot about the before time. The shame and judgement, the behavioral health wards that were more like prisons.

As we got to the ER the usual questions, any allergies etc, then the patient advocate came and set him up with universal insurance, took his vitals and the Doctor came in. Since the Floods and the Crash Doctors were a valuable commodity. Once the wound was all cleaned up it wasn’t as bad as it looked, could be fixed right in the ER. Would be home for dinner. OMG dinner, Morgan, the other boys, I just left everyone. I called my son to pick up Morgan when he got Jax from the music lessons. I reached our neighbor who was happy to help and get the teenagers back to the shelter. Everyone helps out, everytime asked, no shame, no judgement.

As we wait for the ER team to finish I was lost in thought. After COVID hit, the insurers failed, the hospitals went bankrupt. Everyone was in a panic how to fix it. The politicians, the churches, the celebrities, everyone, then it hit. The floods came, slowly at first. The ocean was rising, and it was rising for good- no turning back. Srilanka was evacuated, and Hawaii and Guam. People started moving inland and the big cities disappeared one after another, New York, Boston, Miami, New Orleans, Seattle, Sanfrancisco. The market crashed, every bank failed, what else could be done. Then the President cancelled all mortgages, everyone owned the home with clear title. All credit card debt was forgiven, who would you pay. All savings were gone, it was a worldwide reset. Refugee camps were set up in the many small rural towns across the country who had room, in Ohio, Montana, Pennsylvania, Northern NY, etc. We were suddenly all equal. There was no more rich and poor. No jobs with benefits, just jobs. Just getting bye. Everybody did what they knew, taught those who could learn, filled in the blanks, and the small towns grew. The truckers and doctors became the rock stars. The farmers and teachers were the leaders, and what teachers we discovered. when the cities were abandoned the teachers, Professors, and performing arts all filled in as substitutes until they found work. Police worried about crimes, and only about crimes. Services were linked and hospitals learned how to treat physical and mental health together. The government restarted from scratch. All laws were reduced to just the basic amendments. Future laws will be written only as needed. First was Universal Health Care, Right to an education, and to provide the basic level of security and housing for all. No more nonprofits, property tax was applied equally. If no profit for the year then no income tax owed. The businesses started reopening, jobs came back, repairs were made. Here we are just 10 years later.

Grandpa tapped my shoulder, it startled me awake. We could take him home now, wow just a few hours and we are on our way.

We had Travis and Bianca bring the boys and meet us at movie night. Sandlot was being played on the outside screen at the center . Cassidy and Ian arrived after closing the Deli. It was nice watching our daughter follow her dream. We all got back together and told of our day, watched the movie, then went home. The young adults headed to town for Live music.

The next morning I overslept again. Morgan was watching the squirrels at the bird feeder. He told me how worried the kids were about Jordan. “No worries" I said "we all help each other”.

Morgan said, “just like the President says, “Everyone do what you can, We can all do something”.

“So true” I said “So True”