My Beautiful Tree

In loving memory of Juan G. Pulido (October 21, 1935 - January 25, 2019) who helped me find my purpose in life.

You were just like all of the trees you planted,

The bitter sweetness of the fruit they bore is comparrable to your personality,

And just like those fruit, you gave your all,

You moved from one soil to a another one, while hoping for a better life

You produced so much and gained so little,

You brought joy to all those around you; siblings, sons, grandchildren,

You shared anything needed so that everyone could be happy; even if that meant excluding yourself,

However, as the years continued to slowly pass by,

And after continually bearing fruit,

Bit by bit, you became weak,

Bit by bit, you became tired,

Bit by bit, you became unhealthy,

Despite our best effors to warm you in the winter and cool you in the summer,

You deteriorated,

Now, those you left behind feel mountains of sorrow,

When you left, you took a piece of the hearts of those around you,

We futiley wait, wishing for you to bloom once more,

We hope to have the taste of the bitter sweet fruit once more,

We yearn to see the fruit waiting once more,

We are, however, disappointed,

As rain plummets to the earth, our tears cascade to the ground,

As thunder screams from the heavens, our wails are directed toward the sky

We pick up the leaves you left behind and are reminded of the time we spent together,

For the next few months, there will be a drought of happiness,

We will be stumbling while readjusting to the now foreign movement of others,

But we now know what we needs to be done,

We will work diligently to honor you,

We will continue to smile despite the pain,

We will pursue our dreams just like you did,

We will forever remember and hold onto the precious gifts you gave us while looking forward to the ones that may come in the future,

And I will carry you with me in college,

I will draw strength from your sacrifices,

I will continue the pursue education because you never could,

So now I say goodbye,

I say goodbye to a beautiful tree.