K.Esquivel-LWFC

The waiters were running from one side to
the next serving the lively
crowd of guests. When Gertrudis arrived at
the party, she got
everyone's attention. She drove up in a
model T Ford coupe, one of the
first to be produced with multiple gears.
Stepping out of the car, she
nearly dropped the huge wide-brimmed hat
trimmed with ostrich feathers
that she was carrying. Her dress with its
shoulder pads was the most
daring, absolutely the latest thing. Juan
wasn't one to be left
behind. He was sporting an elegant tightfitting
suit, a top hat, and
spats. Their oldest child had turned into a
fine figure of a
mulatto.
He had delicate features, and his clear blue
eyes stood out against his
dark skin. He got his dark skin from his
grandfather and his blue eyes
from Mama Elena. He had eyes just like his
grandmother.
Behind them came I" Sergeant Trevillo, who
had been hired as a personal
bodyguard by Gertrudis after the revolution.
At the entrance to the ranch Nicholas and
Rosalio, in fancy charro
costumes, were collecting invitations from
the guests as they were
arriving. The invitations were beautiful. Alex
and Esperanza had
prepared them personally. The paper used
for the invitations, the
black ink used to write them, the gold tint
used on the edges of the
envelopes, and the wax used to seal them-all
those were their pride and
joy. Everything had been prepared the
traditional way, using the De Ia
Garza family recipes.
But they hadn't needed to prepare the black
ink, for enough remained
from the ink that had been made for Pedro
and Rosaura's wedding. It
was dried ink; all that had to be done was to
add a little water and it
was as good as new. The ink is made by
mixing eight ounces of gum
arabic, five and a half ounces of gall, four
ounces of iron sulfate,
two and a half ounces of logwood, and half
an ounce of copper
sulfate.
To make the gold tint used on the edges of
the envelopes, take an ounce
of orpiment and an ounce of rock crystal,
finely ground. Stir these
powders into five or six well-beaten egg
whites until the mixture is
like water. And finally, the sealing wax is
made by melting a pound of
gum arabic, half a pound of benzoin, half a
pound of calafonia, and a
pound of vermilion.
When this mixture has liquefied, pour it onto
a table greased with
sweet almond oil and form into thin sticks or
rods before it cools.
Esperanza and Alex spent many afternoons
following these recipes to the
letter so they could make invitations that
were unique, and in that
they had succeeded. Each was a work of
art. They were the product of
crafts that have, unfortunately, gone out of
style, like long dresses,
love letters, and the waltz. But for Tita and
Pedro the waltz the Eyes
of Youth," which the orchestra was playing at
Pedro's request, would
never go out of style. Together they glided
around the dance floor,
bursting with style. Tita looked splendid.
The twenty-two years that