Little Simon

"What I love most about working here is picking the coffee cherries."_That's what Simon always repeated.

And he didn't need to say it, you could see on his face how happy he was when he finished picking the cherries for the day.

Simon Lopez worked in the coffee plantation called La Victoria, he was hired since he was young, he never studied, he said he didn't like it and that he didn't need it to work with the coffee plants.

The coffee plantation had always belonged to one family, and it was a tradition that the new generations were involved in the whole process, so from childhood they participated in the planting, care and harvesting of the coffee.

But this time, the landowner was an only son, and his name was also Simon, and he was called Don Simon Aldana.

Don Simón had known Simón Lopez since he was very young, in fact they were almost the same age, so they had affection, respect and admiration for each other. When they were young they became drinking buddies, but as the years went by, each one went his own way, and they distanced themselves a little from each other.

One afternoon a torrential rain fell, it was sudden, Simon who was still picking coffee cherries rushed to seek shelter, but he took a wrong step and slipped, his head hit a stone, and he died instantly. It was not until the following day that they were able to look for him, it was difficult to find him because there was a landslide, and it took him far away from where he was.

That was a sad year for the farm, they lost an exceptional worker and an unconditional friend. There were also crop losses.

The sectors surrounding the hacienda also suffered, many families lost their belongings due to the landslide. One of the families affected was the Lopez family, Simon's house was lost, his wife and son were miraculously saved, but they not only had to deal with all the material lost, but also with the great pain that overwhelmed them.

All this moved Don Simón, who decided to lodge them in his house while his situation was resolved. Simon Lopez's wife, her name was Julia, began to work on the farm, his son Jacob too, he was 17 years old and had finished his high school studies, he dreamed of studying agronomy, he shared with his father the love for coffee plantations, but he was also fascinated by new technologies and how productive they were, he saw that on a school visit to a banana plantation.

One day Don Simón was touring the coffee plantation and found Jacob, he greeted him: _Hello little Simon! He always greeted him like that because of the great resemblance he had to his father, in fact everyone at the hacienda called him that. Jacob smiled, but the smile couldn't hide his sadness. To which Don Simón asked him: _How do you feel working here? Jacob replied with a dry: "Fine". Don Simon left.

Another day Don Simón met Jacob in the kitchen, and this time he wanted to start a talk with the boy, he wanted to know about him, about his future plans, so "little Simón" told him about his dreams, as he had already been a few months working he had realized that the hacienda could be modernized, he remembered his school visit to the banana plantation... Don Simón listened to him ecstatic, at that moment Jacob did not look sad, his eyes shone when he spoke, but after he was silent, a great and sudden silence, and in almost a whisper he said: "but I can no longer achieve my dream".

Don Simón interrupted him, he was infected by his youthful energy, and offered his support, Jacob did not want to accept it, he was proud, stubborn and wanted to pay for his studies on his own. Then Don Simón proposed to lend him that money and when he graduated he could return it to him, this pleased Jacob better, and he no longer resisted.

Years passed, little Simón dedicated himself to studying with great motivation, not only did he want to pay off that loan, he also dreamed of having a better life with his mother. Once he graduated, Don Simón offered him a job on the farm, Jacob formed a team with two of his friends, they acquired machinery to improve production, trained the staff, and also hired more people... everything was going well, little by little Jacob he was paying his debt to Don Simón until he succeeded.

Julia was very proud of her son, and she knew that her beloved Simon was too from heaven.

Don Simón was also happy, Jacob had changed the face of his beloved hacienda.

Many years of production and happiness were experienced at the La Victoria farm.