Quartet

Maria and her children – Heber, Lynette, and Elizabeth – died against an elderly elm tree. Road-side darkened bark and melted asphalt suggest an inferno. It was Christmas Eve.

Employees of the McDonald’s in the next town put a sign on the tree, giving names and dates. In the years since the accident, Maria’s birth year has been amended and she’s now two years younger. A scrawled message from JR and JJ states WE LOVE YOU. The once-red sign has faded to a golden color. Items around the tree have vestiges of holidays: three candy cane ornaments, plastic fir fronds stuck in roadside tumbleweeds.

Above the sign a heart-shaped wreath, decorated with plastic roses and daisies, has been nailed to the tree.

Four flowers are gone.

US 67 Presidio County, Texas