A Timeless Reunion

I had just arrived from work when my phone rang.

“Gen, it’s mom. Nana just passed away.”

My heart sank upon hearing those words. “What happened?”

“A heart attack.”

I left for my hometown the next morning and found all our relatives and friends already at our family home. Mom hugged me the second I walked through the door. Nana was in her open casket in the living room; even though her warmth was gone, she still looked peacefully asleep there. My eyes were brimming with tears before I knew it.

I was ready to leave for the city the day after the funeral, but mom persuaded me to stay another three days for the will to be read. Nana had left me her coin collection. I could vaguely remember when she first showed it to me. She had so many different coins, from many different parts of the world. That same evening, I was in my old room going through Nana’s coins when my mind took me to memories I had not recalled in decades.

Nana used to say that these coins were magic—that they’d take me anywhere, any time. I was holding an old Egyptian coin at that moment and, within the blink of an eye, I found myself standing in a desert. I looked around in shock and found myself gazing upon the pyramids of Giza. I shaded my eyes from the sun and looked ahead, squinting at the passers-by. It was strange. There were many young people, but they were all wearing clothes from the ‘60s. And then I saw something even stranger: Nana was there, but she was so young that she could have been in her mid-20s, like me.

What’s happening? Is this a dream?

It was then that a memory buried deep in my mind suddenly resurfaced. Nana brought me here to this very site back when I was much younger, but it was still the same year back then. “...anywhere, any time.” Not only could I teleport to different places, but I could also travel through time.

I walked up to Nana and introduced myself; she wondered whether someone was pranking her when I mentioned that I was her granddaughter from the future. I told her I could prove it and held out my hand, asking her to touch the coin. Nana hesitated for a moment but placed her fingers on the coin, and the moment she did, we were transported back to my room. Nana moved back while looking around at the unfamiliar surroundings, but then she saw a photo I had on my desk: it was a photo of her and mom when mom was just two years old. Next to it was a photo of her and me when I was still in preschool.

“Is that…?” She looked at me while pointing at the photographs.

I smiled and nodded.

Tears began to fill her eyes as she walked up to my desk and picked up the photos; I found my eyes growing misty at that same moment.

“How many years into the future are we now?”

“Around sixty.”

Nana turned around with her eyes agape. “I should be way past 80 by now.”

I looked down while holding my hands tightly, feeling my tears flee my eyes.

Nana sighed. “When did it happen?”

“Just a few days ago. You left me your magic coin collection; that’s how I was able to meet you again.”

“Coin collection? I’ve never collected any before.”

“Maybe you will in the future.”

I called mom upstairs, and she was astounded the moment her eyes met Nana’s. I explained to her what had happened and we all spent hours talking about our lives. I learned a lot about Nana that I never did before, and she was overwhelmed with joy to hear everything that mom and I had to say as well. But after many hours had passed, it was time for us to say goodbye. Nana needed to return to her own timeline. We shared a group hug one last time, and I handed over the Egyptian coin I used that day to Nana.

“Maybe this is how you start,” I said with a smile.

Nana’s eyes widened for a moment. She chuckled and accepted my gift. “Thank you, Gen.”

We said our last goodbyes before Nana disappeared in a flash. Mom and I were thrilled to see her again one last time.