After all that had happened, I still considered myself lucky. Of course, there had been very tragic moments in my life, but they seemed only to have given me more strength, and trust in myself. Nature had of course influenced me and somewhat turned me into a sad person, but this day changed it all for me, I started to live anew. I had only lived half my life, I was still young… Let me tell you how it started… My name is Annabel, but everyone calls me Anna or just Bel. We, that is, my then 15-year-old-son John, and his 1 year younger brother Tim, lived out on the planes of Texas. We had lived there ever since the dreadful accident that changed my life in a brutal way. It was only 2 months after the birth of Tim. My husband and I had been married for almost 2 years, loving each other immensely, but life isn't always kind. Michael worked at a big ranch and was chief when it came to handling cattle, however in a dreadful moment he was smacked against the boards by a bull, leaving him all paralysed. One week later, Michael died. The owner of the ranch was a very kind man, he understood the tragedy, he knew I was alone, without any understanding parents to go to, with 2 children to take care of, and only 22. So he arranged for me to live in a small, but old cottage, which was situated in the outskirts of his land by a beautiful pond. It was a lovely house, which Michael and I had rode by several times, admiring, hoping that one day we could live together in a lonely but romantic place just like that. The first years the owner visited me quite often, lending me some powerful hands belonging to his workers, to make some repairs, but later we met only once or twice a month in town. But as I said, he was a very kind man, too old for me to love but he never tried to take advantage of me and the situation in any way, and for that I respect him greatly. Living in the cottage was fantastic, most of the times, however, getting to town was difficult, since you had to drive on a small dirt road for 4 miles, and being so far off in the countryside made life pretty lonely.