Old Faithful

please ignore the boy haircut my mom always chose for me

Okay, don't focus so much on the kids standing in front of the piñata. I know it's kinda hard not to but try. It's a good thing my mom, brothers and I don't look like that anymore (ha!). Anyways, I wanna focus on the tree behind us. The tree was on my grandmother's property. When we were kids, it was our base for our hide-and-seek, colores, and touch games. It was our piñata holder. It was our constant shade from the harsh Laredo sun. It was our jungle gym when our parents wouldn't take us to the Leyendecker playground (back when one still existed there). It was our collection site when we'd gather inch-worms when they were in season. It was a palo blanco which grow freely in our city.

From what I've been told, the tree kinda grew with the family. It was there when my grandmother's house was moved onto that lot back some forty years ago. It greeted all the newborns, new spouses, new friends, new visitors...it was the grandest part of the property. It stood tall, solid, so full of life; it's branches reached out to provide the whole lot with some sort of protection. It mirrored some of the qualities that were found in my own grandmother-some but not even close to all.

The tree lived and thrived for many years...until my grandmother passed away in 2009. The days after we lost her, we were struggling to deal with our grief. We still couldn't come to terms with the reality of her loss. No one paid attention to her house, her yard; we were all focused on getting ready for her funeral. The days came when we gathered at her home in order to pray the rosary for her and that's when we noticed it...the tree had died within days of her death. Some came up with logical explantions: a gas line leak, the tree was old, etc, etc...

Everyone is entitled to their opinions and beliefs. I just find it too much of a conincidence that the tree gave up days after my grandmother's passing. Perhaps the loss was too much for the poor tree to bare.

I'm just blessed to have been afforded the chance to meet such a beautiful woman and have had the pleasure of seeing that tree in full bloom. The memories will always remain.