EMILY PRATT SLATIN

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She/Her/Hers Lesbian

Retired Career Fire and EMS Lieutenant-Specialist, Writer, and Master Photographer, living in Vermont.

How Civilizations Decline

October 5, 2026—Stamford, New York (Mom’s House)

Angie and Nora spent the night at Mom’s. The three of us stayed up till midnight. I had slowly transitioned from my work chair to my comfortable chair, to sitting upright against the wall in my bed, to finally crashing out a little after midnight.

Angie and I have known each other for a very long time. She and I have memories going back to when I was twelve. I first met Angie at Mine Kill State Park. She worked as a lifeguard and at the snack bar.

We talked all day, then at six we drove to Denny’s in Oneonta, just as we did years ago.

I broke up with her in 2020. We were together for twenty years, yet life taught us that we are better off as friends.

Angie commented that the two of us are getting closer to being able to order from the senior menu. I replied, “Only a few more years until I can save $2.”

We finished our dinner, talked about the old days when we first started dating, then I paid the bill and we left.

On the way back to Stamford, I asked Angie if she wanted to stop in at Walmart. I needed an extension cord for my bedroom and I told Angie that I wanted fun things for moms. We bought the extension cord I needed, and decided that the only thing even remotely fun was a single strand of old-fashioned Christmas lights.

I was surprised to find out that the garden center now had Christmas trees and yard decorations for the holidays, despite us not even making it past Halloween yet.

Technology has reached the extraordinary point where my electronics can theoretically connect to the internet, yet I still occasionally have to unplug something and plug it back in because apparently electricity itself requires encouragement.

I bought the Christmas lights that were LED. I don’t yet understand why light bulbs need data connectivity. Come to think of it, I have never understood decorative towels. A towel has one job, and apparently somewhere along the way we decided some towels were too important to perform it. This is how civilizations decline.