Like the autumn announces that winter is nearing, our lives resemble the leaves falling down from the tree of life. This three in particular is two years away from witnessing the turn of another century. I am one of the leaves waiting. Waiting for the breeze, the sun, the rain and the change of seasons that will take it away. How many others it may witness as time goes by, we will never know. However, I will tell you about some of the flowers and the fruits it gave birth to.

The first flower appeared in the late 1800s. She was a beautiful Spaniard woman. Her hair was dark blond; similar to a well-brewed ale. Her eyes were beautifully shaped uvarovites covered by healthy lashes. Her waist was very small and was constantly covered by the mesh of her wavy hair. She was as tall as a sunflower is when reaching for the sun. She was waiting. Waiting for that special person who would make her see stars when she looked into his eyes. She was waiting for the one she, not her parents, would choose. She was waiting for that other part missing in her heart.

No one in the family, that is still alive, remembers how they met. He was as tall as the pine three we seek comfort under. His eyes matched hers and so did his hair. His background was impeccable and being a Spaniard as well, her family did not stop them from falling in love. In fact, her brother and his sister followed suit and got married on the same date.

No one remembers either which day the marriage took place. However, the surviving children of the couple seem to agree that the happy occasion occurred in January 1900. The three was witnessing the growth and change that comes with life and the passage of time. Once again, like it has done for so many centuries, the tree was witnessing a new cycle of life and its roots were even deeper planted on the soil.

With the excitement of uncertainty, they left Spain and headed for a small country that at one point in time was colonized by Spain. They have heard that it was filled with majestic volcanoes, exotic animals, one of the kind orchids and one of the kind birds. The volcanoes were of particular interest as they stood in front of each other like two rivals waiting for an undisclosed duel date and time. El Volcan the Agua and El Volcan the Fuego. (The Water Volcano, and the Fire Volcano).

The legend says that the duel took place. The capital of the country of Guatemala was located in the valley between these two sleeping rivals and in its colonial beauty it was the capital for all Central America. On one of the most breath taking displays of nature, the rivals erupted at the same time. One sent rivers of muddy water and the other answered to the call by sending down flows of lava. As a result of the exchange, the city was destroyed and little remained of it. Today the city is known as Antigua Guatemala and is the biggest tourist attraction. The legend further says that one-day they will go back to their old ways and start all over again.

As a result of their display of force and power, the city had to be relocated and in its hasty move, lost the beauty it had been known for.

The splendor of colonial Spain was not present in the new architecture. Other influences were taking a strong hold on this very small, but proud, nation.

The new city was just a legend for the newly weds. They chose a very small town, in the middle of nowhere and after buying enough land, a large house for the fruits they would bear, they built a pharmacy and when they were accustomed to the land and its customs they started a family. No one knows if they ever missed Spain. If they did, they never shared it with their older children; they kept it all to themselves.

She spent her time at home attending to her duties as a wife and as a proper woman of the 1900s. He worked and provided for her. I can only assume that he was good to her and loved her and this assumption is made only on my appreciation of their photographs. He was a stallion and she was a unicorn.