Nothing Lasts Forever Anymore

Nothing Lasts Forever Anymore is a novella written by American poet, novelist and playwright Michael Lederer in 1984-85 while he was living in the southern Spanish coastal village of La Herradura in the province of Granada. First published in 1999 by Parsifal Ediciones, Barcelona and Cadaques (ISBN 8487265987), it is the story of a small Spanish family that has lived many generations on the same piece of land in southern Spain. When a wealthy real estate developer offers to buy the land in order to build a modern hotel on the site, the family is divided. Younger members think it is a good idea since selling the farm would allow them to move to a more modern life in the nearby town. The grandfather, however, who is head of the family believes they already have all they need. Lederer refuses to take sides, telling the story in a way that allows the reader to imagine what he or she would do in that situation. The novel was illustrated by Genia Chef. It has also been published in Spanish translation as Ya Nada Dura Eternamente (ISBN 8487265995).
Kitty Carlisle Hart, as Chairman Emeritus of the New York State Council on the Arts, contributed a blurb that appears on the rear cover of the book, writing: "Every family has its traditions, and every generation must decide whether to hold on to those traditions or let them go. Michael Lederer has written a beautiful and compelling story about one such family as they face that choice. This book captured my heart."
In the French literary journal Remanences (Bedarieux: May, 2001), the Catalan writer and artist David Marti reviewing the book wrote: "No one as yet has been able, like Michael Lederer, to engender the calmness of our life and dreams on the shores of the frail yet powerful Mediterranean Sea. Nothing Lasts Forever Anymore is a happy token of the good life, of the inner life, of life that stands out to extol everything under the summer sun...without ever losing sight of the meaning of evolution."
Plot summary
Juan Ma and his wife Concha, together with their five year old son Jorge, and Juan Ma's aging father Aurelio, live on a small plot of land that overlooks the Mediterranean Sea in Southern Spain.
Taking a break from his morning chores, the old man pauses to rest, sitting on a stone wall that his own father and grandfather built many years ago and which has begun to crumble. Aurelio realizes that he no longer has the strength to fix the wall, and reminds himself to ask his son to do it before the wall deteriorates further. While sitting, the old man scans the horizon and spots a number of construction projects in the distance. The nearby town of La Herradura, like so many others nearby, is growing swiftly as foreign tourists develop the Costa del Sol. The old man recalls the days of his youth when there was no such construction, when the town was still very small, and the only lights the family could see at night were the stars.
As Aurelio rests, inside the house Concha excitedly recalls to her husband Juan Ma the day before when a local real estate developer, Vincente Garcia, visited the cortijo and offered to buy it with hopes to build a hotel on the site. He offered more money than Concha or her husband ever dreamed that they could have, and Concha wants to tell Aurelio the "good news" as she calls it immediately. But Juan Ma is not certain that his father will welcome it, and begs her to be patient. Leaving her frustrated, he returns outside to his chores to consider how best to break the news to his father.
As the men work, Concha takes it on herself to prepare a great feast at which she intends to tell Aurelio herself. She withdraws to the earthen cellar to select the finest piece of meat from the family's small supply. Then taking her own mother's best linens, she sets the table for what she hopes will be a festive occasion. However, when the men come in from their work to find the feast laid before them there is confusion. Juan Ma is not pleased that his wife has acted without his consent. And the old man is confused, since the day is Maundy Thursday during the Holy Week before Easter, and traditionally it is a day on which the family fasts, not feasts. But his mood quickly turns as he suspects the reason for this festivity is that Concha and Juan Ma plan to announce that they are expecting another child. When Concha instead tells him about the "good news" that they have been offered a lot of money for the farm, his mood again sinks as he does not understand why they would think of selling. He believes that they already have everythying they could want, and despite Concha's entreaties he insists the life they have there is best for their son and for the family's future, and without eating he leaves the house to return to work. Concha despairs, as five year old Jorge looks on. Juan Ma silently returns to his own chores.
As the day winds down, the old man again sits on the crumbling wall to consider all that is happening. His little grandson approaches to console him. When the boy asks his grandfather if, in his own future, he can grow up to be "a farmer AND an astronaut" the old man realizes for the first time that he may in fact be holding the family back. Concha sees her son sitting with Aurelio, and sternly calls the boy back into the house. Left alone, and as night begins to fall, the old man believes he sees the spirit of his dead wife, Juan Ma's mother.
As a fire warms the house, Aurelio comes in to announce that he has listend to the spirit of his wife. He realizes that he is an old man, and what they are discussing is the future. Thus he has decided that it is Juan Ma who must make this decision. He withdraws to his room to sleep. Barely able to contain her excitement, Concha takes little Jorge to bed, leaving Juan Ma sitting alone beside the fire to consider his, and his family's, future.

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